16. John Newton House

The oldest existing house in the community, the John Newton house is a well-preserved example of 19th century frontier Arkansas architecture.  John Newton brought his family from Alabama to south Arkansas in 1843 and prospered from raising cotton.  He bought 546 acres (covering from North West Avenue to Retta Brown School on Dixie Drive and from Fifth Street to Peach) from El Dorado’s first settler Matthew Rainey in 1849, and built his plantation home for wife Penelope and their six children.  The building originally stood on Peach Street where the Murphy Oil headquarters is today but was moved to its Jackson Avenue address in 1910 by then-owner Rufus N. Garrett.  You may notice the initials PW and EM etched in the windowpanes now framed in the front parlor.  Patti Wright, granddaughter of John Newton, romantically “engraved” her and her fiancée’s initials (Judge Emon Mahony) with her diamond engagement ring one evening, and the panes became a sentimental facet of the house.

The South Arkansas Historical Foundation restored this residence as its headquarters and furnished it in period antiques.  It also has plans to restore the Ogden Miles house next door (built around 1905 or 1910) for an office and museum.  The Foundation hosts the annual Mayhaw Festival on this site as well as weddings, receptions and other special events.  Call 870-862-9890 for more information.