New London is located southeast of
Tyler on Hwy 42 near
Henderson, in
Rusk County.
In 1930 Columbus M. (Dad) Joiner drilled the first well in the East Texas oilfield a few miles from the community, making it a boomtown. During the 1950s oil companies changed their objectives. The East Texas oilfield began to decline. In the New London area, the drilling of wells was replaced by the care of pipelines and the installation of pumps.
The population level remained relatively stable-899 in 1970 and 942 in 1980. Many residents were retired oilfield workers or had jobs with oilfield service companies, the nursing home, or West Rusk High School. In the early 1990s New London had twenty-six businesses and a population of 916.
