|Early Newtonmore - the origins| Prior to the early 19th
century, there was no village on record at Newtonmore. Following
construction of the new Spey Bridge in 1756, the bulk of the
traffic by-passed Ruthven, where a ferry had to be used to reach
Kingussie. With the new road joining the Drove Road from Laggan
to Fort William, 4 or 5 houses were built along the north side
of the new road between the River Calder and Allt Laraidh. Due
to the poverty of the land, the inhabitants of Glen Banchor were
hard pressed to make a living from their crofts, and learnt new
trades. These new skills were badly needed when they were moved
out of their crofts during the clearances of the 1800's. They
were able to construct their own dwellings and the hamlet
gradually grew. It was originally known as 'Strone-muir'. A plan
of the village produced by Joseph Mitchells in 1828 shows, among
others, Craigellachie House, and refers to the village as
Newtown-more (the new town on the moor).