Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city in Virginia. It is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending to its mouth at Hampton Roads. The name of Newport News has long been a puzzle to those curious about the origin of place names.

First settled in the early 17th century, it was an unincorporated town without formal boundaries in Warwick County for over 250 years, until 1896. In 1900, 19,635 people lived in Newport News, Virginia; in 1910, 20,205; in 1920, 35,596; and in 1940, 37,067. However, the city consolidated with the former Warwick County by mututal consent in 1958, becoming Virginia's third largest in city population. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 180,150. A more recent 2005 estimate indicates the city's population has grown to 195,347. In modern times, it is one of Virginia's larger cities.

Among the city's major industries are Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, which is now owned by Northrop Grumman which was previously owned by Tenneco, and the large coal piers supplied by railroad giant CSX Transportation. Miles of the waterfront can be seen by automobiles crossing the James River Bridge and Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel. Recovered artifacts from the USS ''Monitor are displayed at the Mariners' Museum, and American Civil War battle sites near historic Lee Hall and several plantations have been protected along the roads leading to Yorktown and Williamsburg of the Historic Triangle.

Source of the name

The original downtown area was first referred to as "Newportes Newes" as early as 1619 and is purported to be the longest continuously named place in the United States.

The source of the name "Newport News" is not known with certainty. Several versions are recorded, and it is subject of popular speculation locally. Probably the best-known explanation holds that when the first Jamestown, Virginia colonists left to return to England after the Starving Time of 1610, they encountered Captain Christopher Newport's ship in the James River off Mulberry Island, and learned that reinforcements of men and supplies had arrived, and that the colonists need not abandon Jamestown. (It is probable that not all of the survivors thought returning to the harsh conditions of Jamestown was "good" news, however). Under this theory, the community was named for Newport's "good news".

Less dramatically, the city may have derived its name from an old English word "news" meaning "new town." Yet another theory is that the original name was New Port Neuce, named for a person with the name Neuce and the town's place as a new seaport. The founder was Sir William Neuce. He was originally an English soldier and settler in Ireland where he had established Newcestown near Bandon in County Cork. After his death, his partner Daniel Gookin - another English colonist at Carrigaline in Ireland - completed the establishment of his colony in Virginia. That the name was formerly written as "Newport's News" is verified by numerous early documents and maps, and by local tradition. The change to Newport News apparently was brought about by usage, for by 1851 the Post Office Department sanctioned "New Port News" (three words as the name of the first post office, and in 1866 it approved the name as "Newport News", the current form.

Heritage: Warwick River Shire, Warwick County, independent cities

Newport News was originally an unincorporated town located in the southeastern portion of Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in colonial Virginia in 1634. During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607, English settlers and explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By 1634, the English colony of Virginia consisted of eight shires or counties with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. Warwick River Shire became Warwick County in 1637. By 1810, the county seat was at Denbigh.

Virginia has had an independent city political subdivision since 1871. Following a huge growth spurt of railroad and shipyard development, the new "City of Newport News" was formerly organized and became independent of Warwick County in 1896 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. It was one of only a few cities in Virginia to be newly established without earlier incorporation as a town. Walter A. Post served as the city's first mayor.

Independent city status guarantees protection against annexation of territory by adjacent communities. In 1952, Warwick County became the independent City of Warwick. In 1958, the citizenry of Warwick and Newport News voted by referendum to consolidate the two cities, choosing to assume the better-known name of Newport News, and forming the third largest city population-wise in Virginia with a 65 square mile area. The boundaries of the City of Newport News today are essentially the boundaries of the original Warwick River Shire and those of Warwick County for most of its existence.

Collis P. Huntington: builder of a new railroad and a shipyard

The area which formed the present-day southern end of Newport News had long been established as an unincorporated town. However, during the period after the American Civil War the new City of Newport News was essentially founded by Collis P. Huntington. Huntington, who was one of the builders of the country's first transcontinental railroad, became a major investor and guiding light, and helped complete the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway to the Ohio River. His agents began acquiring land in Warwick County in 1865, and in the 1880s, he oversaw extension of the C&O down the peninsula to Newport News, where the company developed the coal piers.

His next project was to develop Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, which became the world's largest shipyard. His famous saying is:

We shall build good ships here. At a profit - if we can. At a loss - if we must. But always good ships.

The city of Huntington, West Virginia was named in honor of Collis P. Huntington, as was Huntington Avenue in Newport News. Developed after World War I, Huntington Park, near the northern terminus of the James River Bridge, is named for his nephew, Henry E. Huntington. Collis Huntington's son, Archer M. Huntington, developed the Mariners' Museum, one of the largest and finest maritime museums in the world.

Geography

Newport News is located at (37.071046, -76.484557).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 308.3 km² (119.1 mi²). 176.9 km² (68.3 mi²) of it is land and 131.5 km² (50.8 mi²) of it (42.64%) is water.

Newport News entered a Sister City relationship with Neyagawa, Osaka-fu, Japan in 1982. Newport News has a second sister city in Taizhou which is in the Jiangsu Province in China and possibly in the near future a relationship with Greifswald, Germany.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 180,150 people, 69,686 households, and 46,341 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,018.5/km² (2,637.9/mi²). There were 74,117 housing units at an average density of 419.0/km² (1,085.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 53.50% White, 39.07% African American, 0.42% Native American, 2.33% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 1.79% from other races, and 2.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.22% of the population.

There were 69,686 households out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 17.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.04.

The age distribution is: 27.5% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 32.2% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,597, and the median income for a family was $42,520. Males had a median income of $31,275 versus $22,310 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,843. About 11.3% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.6% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.

Newport News is served by two airports. Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, located in Newport News, and Norfolk International Airport, in Norfolk, both cater to passengers from Hampton Roads. The primary airport for the Virginia Peninsula is the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. The Airport is experiencing a 4th year of record, double-digit growth, making it one of the fastest growing airports in the country. In January, the airport reported having served 1,058,839 passengers. Along with this record growth, there has been increased talk of a possible Newport News-UK direct flight after UK-based Wolseley plc decided to put its North American headquarters in Newport News. Speculation further increased when the news was considered against the backdrop of the Jamestown 2007 commemorations.

Major Neighborhoods

Education

The main provider of primary and secondary education in the city is Newport News Public Schools. Several private schools are located in the area as well, including Hampton Roads Academyand Peninsula Catholic High School[http://www.peninsulacatholic.com. Christopher Newport University is located within the city, and Hampton University, Old Dominion University and The College of William and Mary are located nearby.

Transportation

Newport News has an elaborate transportation network, including interstate and state highways, bridges and a bridge-tunnel, freight and passenger railroad service, local transit bus and intercity bus service, and a commercial airport. There are miles of waterfront docks and port facilities.

See also Transportation section of main article Hampton Roads

The future of Newport News

Newport News, known traditionally as a blue-collar industrial city, is currently undergoing dramatic changes to accommodate its growing affluence and relative significance as a major metropolitan nexus in the Hampton Roads region. The city's traditional downtown, located on the James River waterfront, is home to, almost exclusively, Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard and municipal offices. While the downtown area has generally remained the only true area of the city that offered genuine urban layout, that is changing with the introduction of a number of successful New Urbanism projects in the city such as Port Warwick, named after the fictional city in William Styron's novel, Lie Down in Darkness. Oyster Point City Center, located near Port Warwick in the thriving Oyster Point Retail/Central Business District (often cited as the busiest in Hampton Roads), has been touted as the new "downtown" because of its new geographic centrality on the Virginia Peninsula, its proximity to the retail/business nucleus of the city, etc. One large and relatively new planned community is Kiln Creek. Currently under planning stages are a number of other New Urbanism projects, including "Asheton", a mega-development at the north end of the city bordering Williamsburg, meant to complement the historic attraction of the region. There are also plans to develop a light rail line on the Peninsula, largely in Newport News, as well as continue the gradual urbanization of the city to transform it from its currently suburban layout into a more cohesive, attractive, and enticing destination. It looks to be well on its way, judging from the rapid pace of infill redevelopment over the past 5-11 years.

Downtown Newport News Victory Arch, built to commemorate the Great War, sits on the downtown waterfront in Newport News. There are a number of landmarks and architecturally interesting buildings in the downtown area that seem to have been largely abandoned in favor of building new areas in the northwest areas of the city. It is hoped that one day more development would be put in the area to return it to its lost status as an urban nucleus in Hampton Roads.

Official song

In July 1989, Newport News City Council adopted via resolution Newport News' official city song, "Newport News," written by native Ronald W. Bell. The song voices the community's links to both the nation's earliest beginnings and its longstanding maritime heritage:

NEWPORT NEWS

Harbor of a thousand ships
Forger of a nation's fleet
Gateway to the New World
Where ocean and river meet

Strength wrought from steel
And a people's fortitude
Such is the timeless legacy (chorus)
Of a place called Newport News

Nestled in a blessed land
Gifted with a special view
Forever home for ev'ry man
With a spirit proud and true

(repeat chorus)

Notable features

Newport News is the location of Fort Eustis, an important U.S. Army base built in Warwick County on Mulberry Island at the mouth of the Warwick River in beginning in 1918.

The city is also famous as the birthplace of legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, author William Styron, Oakland Raiders quarterback Aaron Brooks who attended Ferguson High, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick attended Warwick High, played football, and was honored by the school in 1999 by retiring his football jersey.

Philadelphia 76ers basketball player (shooting guard) Allen Iverson is also from the lower east end of Newport News, but was born in neighboring Hampton, Virginia, where he attended Jefferson Davis Middle and Bethel High schools.

Musicians Victor Wooten and his brother Roy Wooten (a.k.a. Future Man) attended Denbigh High, and started their careers at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA.

Actress, Pearl Bailey was also raised in Newport News, but was born in Southampton County, Virginia.

The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Christopher Newport University are located in Newport News.

Trivia

Kecoughtan, originally named Kikotan (also spelled Kiccowtan, Kikowtan as well as Kecoughtan), was an Native American village when the English colonists arrived in the Hampton Roads area in 1607. In 1610, the English seized their land, which has been continuously occupied ever since, forming the basis of a claim by Hampton as the home of the oldest continually occupied English settlement in the U.S.A. However, in an area immediately to the south of the original settlement, many years later, a newer incorporated town of Kecoughtan was developed and existed in Elizabeth City County before it was annexed by Newport News in 1927.

Rap musician 50 Cent mentions Newport News in his song "Ski Mask Way", referring to the city as "Bad News, VA" ("Bad Newz" is a street nickname of Newport News known by some local residents. It's earned this name primarily from the lower east end of the city which has a reputation for "bad news").

Athletes such as Allen Iverson, Marcus and Michael Vick, Aaron Brooks and rapper Quan all hail from Newport News, Virginia

External links

Cities in Virginia | Newport News, Virginia | Cities on the James River | History of Virginia

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