Newton Academy

Newton Academy was first known as Union Hill Academy and was housed in a log cabin. In 1809 the cabin was replaced by a more permanent brick structure and the name was changed to Newton Academy. This original brick  which stood near the graveyard was later replaced by another brick building in 1857 or 1858.  The Academy followed a classical curriculum and according to the Asheville Centenary, was reportedly famous throughout the South. Newton Academy was the foundation of education for many of North Carolina's notables, including David L. Swain (1801-1868), the first lawyer of Buncombe County. Swain later became the state Governor and after three successive terms in that office, in 1835,  he became the president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. J.S.T. Baird in his Reminiscences, 1903, wrote the "The old Newton Academy was the only institution in the county which, up to 1840, had ever been dignified with as big a name as that of Academy.  This was a very old structure when I first entered it in 1844. Dr. Erastus Rowley taught here that year. The house was a very long one and rather wide -- one story, divided into two rooms -- one very long room and one small one. It was built of brick and stood on the top of the knoll some distance above where the present one stands. [ The east side of South Main Street, across from the Asheville Normal and Collegiate Institute]. Many of the older men of this section received their education at this widely known institution and its fame has always been almost co-extensive with that of Asheville."

Today, the Newton Academy no longer is in evidence, but the Newton Cemetery on Biltmore Avenue is in existence. It is the burial site for many of Asheville's early residents including James McConnell Smith and family. Currently under the care of the Community Foundation, a local philanthropic organization, the graveyard is undergoing a renovation of the property. A small body of papers, largely secondary,  related to the cemetery and to the old Newton Academy are held by the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The cemetery was turned over to the Community Foundation in 1988 and work was begun to restore the graveyard. The school grounds were sold to Mission Memorial Hospital and the money from the sale was passed along to the Community Foundation for the restoration of the cemetery.

Clayton v. Trustees, 95 N.C., 298.