The town was originally called Skateraw in the
17th Century. Skateraw was a fishing village, and the older part of the village (still called Skateraw) between the railway line and the sea reflects that heritage, though nearly all of the old houses have been modernised and extended. An old smoke house is still visible on Skateraw Road, though it has been many years since it was in use. The village had a
railway station which led to the change of name from Skateraw to Newtonhill but it was closed in 1956; the signal box was still in use until May 2019 and remnants of a platform can still be seen. A feasibility study received funding in May 2018 to study the possible reopening of the station. In 1846, the first school in Skateraw (Newtonhill) was established by the Scottish Episcopal Church. The school was housed in a rented cottage No.18 Skateraw Village (Now 15 Skateraw Road). In 1855, due to the ruinous state of the school room, the church then established the school in St Michaels on Elsick Place, the current site of Newtonhill Church. Newtonhill is in Kincardineshire, though local government re-organisation means that the local authority is
Aberdeenshire Council. The town is situated about half a mile east of the ancient
Causey Mounth road, which was built on high ground to make passable. This was the only available medieval route from coastal points North to
Aberdeen. This ancient passage specifically connected the
Bridge of Dee via
Portlethen Moss,
Muchalls Castle and
Stonehaven to the south. The route was that taken by
William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal and the
Duke of Montrose when they led a
Covenanter army of 9000 men in the first battle of the
First Bishop's War in 1639. In the 1880s, Skateraw
pier was built on Skateraw Shore to accommodate larger fishing boats in the waters around Skateraw. In the early 1980s, the pier was demolished by the
British army due to its deterioration. ==Transport links==