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Newton, Kansas

The Newton Fox Theatre was built in 1914 and once showcased vaudeville acts. It had a full pit for an orchestra and coal shoots for heating furnaces in the basement. It was known as the Royal Theater until 1921, when it was renamed the Regent and revamped for staging vaudeville acts. In the 1920s it started showing silent films and in the 1930s the theater was fitted with its first sound system.

When 21st Century Fox bought the theater in 1955, workers tore into the stage, putting up a large canvas screen and cutting away at the arch above. After that, not much changed inside the building up to its final show in 1999. Behind the screen there are still upstairs dressing rooms for actors and a pulley system for stage scenery. A huge second-floor loft might have been a ballroom that still has antique stenciling on the ceiling.

The theater's 440 seats are new, and the paint on the walls is just a few years old, but the place retains a lot of its 1950s character and today hosts speakers and conventions, and stages plays and musicals.

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Carriage Factory Gallery & Park

In 1883-1884, one of Newton's largest industries was established, J.J. Krehbiel's Carriage Factory. Mr. Krehbiel was one of the founders of Bethel College. In 1993

Newton, KS Arts

Harvey County West Park

Harvey County West Park is approximately 17.5 northwest of Newton on 310 acres. Located on the Little Arkansas River, this heavily wooded park provides ample opportunity for enjoying the natural beauty of this area. No hunting is allowed here. There is a 16

Newton, KS Recreation

Kauffman Museum

The Kauffman Museum is located on the Bethel College campus in North Newton. The museum emphasizes the cultural and natural history of the Central Plains and the immigration of the Mennonites to Kansas in the 1870

Newton, KS Museums

Bethel College

North Newton is home of Bethel College. Built in 1888, the striking Bethel College Administration building made of Kansas limestone in the Romanesque Revival style attracted the community's attention from the very beginning.

Newton, KS Colleges

Military Park

One of several parks in Newton, the Military Park is exceptional because it is home to Santa Fe steam engine #1880 (a Prairie class 2-6-2) and a Civil War-era cannon. It is also the location of the public library.

Newton, KS Parks

Things to do near Newton, KS

The Conway Springs Madstone

It is recalled that Dr. William Monnet had a madstone and people of that time felt much safer in this wild new country with a...