A rural crossroads town, Newtown began as a plantation that was sold in 1769. A settlement grew up on the Great Post Road from Williamsburg to Philadelphia. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was the largest town in King and Queen County and contained a number of academies. About ten older buildings survive. At the crossroads stands the post office and store (1923), a wooden vernacular structure. Adjacent to the crossroads on Virginia 721 is the most impressive survivor, the Lee Boulward house (c. 1823), a five-bay building with massive pillars supporting the portico. South of the store on Virginia 625 are the Richardson Lumpkin house (c. 1839), an eccentric fourbay wooden structure, and then The Hill (also known at Locust Hill; c. 1769; later additions), a three-bay farmhouse with a central entrance and a five-light transom. It is surrounded by several outbuildings.