Newfane is part of the West River Valley and in addition to the two rivers that weave through our town- the West River and Rock River- there are 8 brooks, plus forests that cover half the land.
Newfane was originally chartered as Fane in 1753 as part of the New Hampshire Land Grants but settlement was delayed due to the French & Indian War. The charter was re-issued as New Fane and settlement eventually began at the summit of Newfane Hill in 1766. Twenty years later the village had about 30 buildings and was named the county seat or “shire town.” But winter travel up the hill was precarious so the decision was made in 1825 to dismantle the settlement and move down to Fayetteville – present day Newfane village – and Williamsville. Today all that remains of the original hilltop village are stone walls and a cemetery.
The town was a hub of industry with leather, linseed oil and carriage manufacturing, plus several mills. In Newfane Village, a courthouse, jail, meeting house, stores, inns and churches went up– with examples of Greek Revival, Federal, and Romanesque style architecture. In 1880, trains began arriving in Newfane via the West River Railway, a narrow-gauge track that connected South Londonderry to Brattleboro.
Locals nicknamed it “36 miles of Trouble” due to frequent wrecks, derailments, washouts and snowdrift delays. Things started to change in the early 1900s. One “central” telephone was installed, then the first automobile was purchased by a resident in 1909, and finally electricity arrived in 1913. Increasingly, people from the cities ventured to Newfane for the summer and it was a lively place with a bona fide croquet season. Newfane had a short burst of fame because the county jail also had a hotel wing with one entrance for prisoners and guests. Teddy Roosevelt visited and remarked, “Someday I’ll come up and commit a mild infraction and get a lot of reading done!”
To learn more about the history of Newfane, please visit the Windham County Historical Society, which provided resources for this introduction to the town’s history.