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).