Newport News is an independent city in Virginia. It is on the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula,
on the north shore of the James River extending from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the
river's mouth at Newport News Point on the harbor of Hampton Roads.
The area now known as Newport News was long-located in Warwick County, one of the eight original shires
of Virginia formed by the House of Burgesses in the British Colony of Virginia by order of King Charles I in 1634.
The entire county was largely composed of farms and undeveloped land until almost 250 years later.
In 1881, 15 years of explosive development began under the leadership of Collis P. Huntington,
who built a new railroad, coal piers, and a large shipyard in the southeastern portion closest to the harbor.
In 1896, the new unincorporated town of Newport News, which had briefly replaced Denbigh as the county seat
of Warwick County, became a separate city from the county.
In 1900, 19,635 people lived in Newport News, Virginia; in 1910, 20,205; in 1920, 35,596; and in 1940, 37,067.
However, in 1958, by mutual consent, Newport News consolidated with the former Warwick County
(itself a separate city from 1952 to 1958), rejoining the two localities to basically their pre-1896 geographic size,
thus forming what was then Virginia's third largest independent city in population.
As of the 2000 census, the city population was 180,150.
A more recent 2006 estimate indicates the city's population has declined to 178,281,
ranking it as Virginia's fifth largest incorporated city by population.
With many residents employed at the expansive Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding,
the U.S. Army base at Fort Eustis, and other area bases and suppliers, the city's economy is
connected to the military.
The location on the harbor and along the James River facilitates a large boating industry which can take
advantage of its many miles of waterfront.
Newport News also serves as a junction between the rails and the sea with the
Newport News Marine Terminals located at the East End of the City.
read full wikipedia reference about Newport News, Virginia
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