Find Your Neighborhood

Covington is located in Newton County near Conyers. Travel I-20 east of downtown Atlanta and take exit 90. Covington is about 35 miles east of the city. Newton County has emerged as one of the fastest-growing counties in the country. The city of Covington had a 2006 population estimate of 14,272.With much of Covington on the National Register of Historic Places, the town has been used as the setting of many movies and TV shows, including In the Heat of the Night and The Dukes of Hazzard. Still the center of the community, the square is often host to festive social events such as outdoor concerts. Covington is noted for its many antebellum structures and the restored manors of its downtown district. Children attend Newton County schools. A new high school opened in 2006.Newton County was carved from Henry, Jasper and Walton counties in 1821 and named for Sgt. John Newton, a Revolutionary War hero. The county seat of Newtonsborough would later become the city of Covington in 1822. Covington is named for General Leonidas Covington, a hero and casualty of the War of 1812. Covington was home to Manual Labor School, which became Emory College. The school moved to Oxford in 1836, then to Atlanta 80 years later to become Emory University. Students can attend two years at the Oxford campus, which is part of Emory University.