A small town with a distinctive small town charm, Newberry, Florida maintains a Historic District and has itself been placed on the National Register of Historic places.

Developed as a mining town after phosphate was discovered, Newberry turned to agriculture in 1914 when war was declared against its primary customer for phosphate, Germany. To this day, agriculture remains a focus in Newberry, marked by its annual Watermelon Festival held in mid-May. The event includes free watermelons from a local grower along with a beauty pageant, seed spitting contest, hog calling, pie and cake baking, and of course a Big Melon contest worth seeing.