Newport News

Sister cities

• Greifswald

History

During the 17th century, shortly after founding of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. In 1610, Sir Thomas Gates seized a nearby Native American village, which became known as Kecoughtan. At that time, settlers began clearing land along the James River (the eastern most section of which was called Hampton Roads) for plantations, including the present area of Newport News. In 1619, the area of Newport News was included in one of four huge corporations of the Virginia Company of London. It became known as Elizabeth Cittie and extended west all the way to Skiffe's Creek (currently the border between Newport News and James City County). Elizabeth Cittie included all of present-day South Hampton Roads. By 1634, the English colony of Virginia consisted of a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. It was divided into eight shires of Virginia, which were renamed as counties shortly thereafter. The area of Newport News became part of Warwick River Shire, which became Warwick County in 1637. The first courthouse was located near the shores of the James River at Warwick Town near Denbigh Plantation. In 1810, the county seat was at Denbigh. Newport News was a rural area of plantations and a small fishing village until after the American Civil War. The area that formed the present-day southern end of Newport News had long been established as an unincorporated town. After Reconstruction (the period after the American Civil War) the new City of Newport News was essentially founded by California merchant Collis P. Huntington. Huntington, one of the Big Four associated with the Central Pacific Railroad, in California, formed the western part of the country's First transcontinental railroad. He was…

Geography

Newport News is located at (37.071046, −76.484557). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (42.4%) is water. The city is located at the Peninsula side of Hampton Roads in the Tidewater region of Virginia, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The Hampton Roads Metropolitan Statistical Area (officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA) is the 37th largest in the nation with a 2014 population estimate of 1,716,624. The area includes the Virginia cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Williamsburg, and the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Surry, and York, as well as the North Carolina counties of Currituck and Gates. Newport News serves as one of the business centers on the Peninsula. The city of Norfolk is recognized as the central business district, while the Virginia Beach oceanside resort district and Williamsburg are primarily centers of tourism. Newport News shares land borders with James City County on the northwest, York County on the north and northeast, and Hampton on the east. Newport News shares water borders with Portsmouth on the southeast and Suffolk on the south across the Hampton Roads Area, and Isle of Wight County on the southwest and west and Surry County on the northwest across the James River. The city's downtown area was part of the earliest developed area which was initially incorporated as an independent city in 1896. The earlier city portions also included the "East End" or "Southeast" community, which was predominantly black American, the "North End" and the shipyard and coal piers. The town of Kecoughtan in Elizabeth City County was annexed by Newport News in 1927, extending…

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,953
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  12,595
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  11,924
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  11,539
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  10,982
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  10,618
• Eastern Bluebird

  Sialia sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,281
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,277

Largest nearby schools

• WOODSIDE HIGH
  High · Newport News · 1,807 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• MENCHVILLE HIGH
  High · Newport News · 1,788 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• WARWICK HIGH
  High · Newport News · 1,645 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• DENBIGH HIGH
  High · Newport News · 1,225 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• ETHEL M. GILDERSLEEVE MIDDLE
  Middle · Newport News · 1,130 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• HERITAGE HIGH
  High · Newport News · 1,111 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• ELLA J. FITZGERALD MIDDLE
  Middle · Newport News · 1,060 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• MARY PASSAGE MIDDLE
  Middle · Newport News · 944 students · 14.3:1 ratio