Newman started out as a small settlement on the Louisville, St. Louis, and Texas Railroad in the late 1800s. The community was established as "Worthington Station" before it was renamed for Nathaniel Newman, a magistrate and businessman. Newman was a bustling farm and rail town with a well-known general store, initially "Bennett and Waite" and later "W.A. Alexander Grocery." James Ellis owned a farm, "Happy Go Lucky Ranch," that would become the site of the Daviess County Fair in the 1960s-70s.