| Official Name: | Newton Falls, New York |
| Settlement Type: | hamlet |
| Pushpin Map: | New York Adirondack Park |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of New York |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | New York |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Saint Lawrence |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 7.94 |
| Area Land Km2: | 7.65 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.29 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 3.07 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 2.96 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.11 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 4557 |
| Population Density Km2: | 595.49 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 1542.13 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Elevation Footnotes: | [2] |
| Elevation M: | 456 |
| Elevation Ft: | 1496 |
| Coordinates: | 44.212°N -74.9895°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 13666 |
| Area Code: | 315 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 39-55650 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 976719 |
Newton Falls is a hamlet of 400, located within Town of Clifton in Saint Lawrence County, New York, United States. The hamlet is located within the Adirondack Park. The area is known in part for its ZIP code, which is 13666.
The hamlet was named for James Newton, who built a sawmill in 1894 which became the Newton Falls Paper Mill; it closed in 2000.[3] It was reopened in 2007 as Newton Falls Fine Paper through the efforts of former mill workers and town residents.[4] [5] The paper mill was again closed as of June 28, 2011.[6]
The hamlet was constructed as a mill town; it includes several Sears houses at the top of Plank Hill on the Newton Falls Road (County route 60) near Summit Avenue. In 1925 there were more than 800 residents.[7] As late as 1941, there was six day a week New York Central mixed train running on the Carthage and Adirondack to Carthage, where connections could be made to the Utica to Philadelphia St. Lawrence Division;[8] this service ended by 1946.[9] Freight service continued for a few decades more. Until 1978 there was a huge iron strip mine, Benson Mines, and crushing plant at the junction of CR 60 and New York State Route 3 that shipped processed ore via rail; at its peak, it employed 1200 workers. The 100+ year old Newton Falls Hotel still stands, but is currently closed to the public.
The paper mill was opened by the Newton family in 1894. In 1920, the mill, operated as the Newton Falls Paper Company, was purchased by McGraw-Hill and United Publishers Corporation to supply paper for the magazines they published. Each partner held a 50% stake in the mill.[10]
After the 1978 closure of the iron mine, the mill was the hamlet's largest employer.
The mill remained with McGraw-Hill/ABC until it was purchased in 1984 by the Swedish multinational company Stora Kopparbergs Bergslag, Sweden's second-largest forest products company, and renamed Papyrus Newton Falls, Inc., in 1989. Papyrus was the fine papers division of Stora. Later that year it was renamed to Stora Papyrus Newton Falls, Inc.[11] The mill was purchased in 1996 by Appleton Papers Inc., a leading worldwide producer of carbonless paper and the leading U.S. producer of thermal paper.[12]
It closed in 2000 when Appleton decided to consolidate the operation closer to its home in Kimberly, Wisconsin.
New paper mill owners, Dennis L. Bunnell and partners and Scotia Investments out of Canada were secured through heavy community involvement. The mill reopened on September 7, 2007, under the new name of Newton Falls Fine Paper.[13] The paper mill was permanently closed as of June 28, 2011.[6]
44° 12' 43.20", -74° 59' 22.20"Newton Falls is located at (44.2106178, -74.9890831).[14]
Newton Falls is served by the Clifton-Fine Central School district.