Newton

Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located 25 miles (40 km) north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and exists as a separate political entity. Newton is located at the intersection of Interstate 135, U.S. Route 50, and U.S. Route 81 highways.

For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. In 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1872, Harvey County was founded.

In 1871, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway extended a main line from Emporia westward to Newton by July 1871. The town soon became an important railroad shipping point for Texas cattle.

The city was founded in 1871 and named after Newton, Massachusetts, home of some of the Santa Fe stockholders.

In August 1871, there was a Gunfight at Hide Park, in which a total of eight men were killed. The incident began with an argument between two local lawmen, Billy Bailey and Mike McCluskie. Because of this incident, Newton became known as "bloody and lawless—the wickedest city in the west.".

In 1872, the western terminal for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway and the railhead for the Chisholm Trail were established here. Shortly after the incorporation of the city in 1872, the Newton city council passed an ordinance prohibiting the running at large of buffalo and other wild animals.

Newton is located at coordinates 38.0466779, -97.3450365 in the state of Kansas. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.60 square miles (32.63 km²), all of it land.

The city is in the central portion of the continental United States. U.S. Highway 81, also known as the Meridian Highway, stretches from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Mexico City, Mexico through Central and South America. It passes through Newton, Kansas, and is known as "Main Street." U.S. Highway 50 runs past the White House in Washington, DC through Newton, Kansas, and continues on to Sacramento, California.

Newton is included in the Wichita metropolitan statistical area (MSA). It is located in Harvey County which is an agricultural and small manufacturing county with 34,361 people. Harvey County Kansas is part of a 5-county Metro Area with 650,000 people, the largest anchored in the state of Kansas. The major city in this metro area is Wichita, Kansas, 20 miles (20 minutes) to the South via I-135.