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Hilton Village is a planned English-village-style neighborhood in
Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the U ...
. Recognized as a pioneering development in
urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, it is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. The neighborhood was built between 1918 and 1921 in response to the need for housing during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
for employees of
Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...
. It is recognized as the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
' first Federal war-housing project.


History


Founding

The planned community was jointly sponsored by the
U.S. Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...
and the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. It was built on the site of J. Pembroke Jones' farm "Hilton." Hilton Village was opened July 7, 1918. The street names in the tract of former pine woods honor government and shipyard officials. The 500 English village-type houses were sold to private owners after the war.


Impetus for creation

In 1917, during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the war effort was in full swing.
Newport News Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Nav ...
had many contracts to build naval ships and was hiring thousands of employees. Shipyard workers were being housed in overcrowded and/or temporary quarters. The emerging community of Newport News faced a severe housing shortage. This led to the construction of Hilton Village. The housing shortage was so severe that
Newport News Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Nav ...
president
Homer L. Ferguson Homer Lenoir Ferguson (March 6, 1873 – March 14, 1953) was an author and businessman. He was president of Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, from July 22, 1915, through July 31, 1946. Biography Ferguson w ...
traveled to Washington to emphasize to Congress the impact of lack of housing on ship construction and thus the war effort. Immediately after his appearance, the United States Shipping Board was provided funding of $1.2 million and authorization to create a comprehensive emergency housing program. Hilton Village was the first project of the emergency housing program.


Planning

About three miles (5 km) north of the Newport News city limits, in
Warwick County, Virginia Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Newport News on July 16, 1952. Located on the Virginia Peninsula on the no ...
, land known locally as the "Darling Tract" was purchased. This consisted of about of woodlands and, located on a bluff overlooking the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesap ...
, the pre-Civil War homestead was named "Hilton". The planning for Hilton Village was conducted using a team approach, highly innovative for the time.NRHP Nomination Form, Hilton Village, Item 8, p. 2.
/ref> Initially landscape architect
Henry Vincent Hubbard Henry Vincent Hubbard (1875 – 1947) was an American landscape architect and planner, famous for his unique teaching styles at Harvard University, and his many publications. He was one of the prime supporters for a national system of public ...
was hired as town planner, Joseph D. Leland, III as architect and
Francis H. Bulot Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...
as sanitary engineer. Leland was unable to finish the assignment because of other obligations, and Francis Y. Joannes was hired as the
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
to work on the Project. The planners met with the wives of shipyard workers. Based on their input, 14 house plans were designed for the projected 500 English-village-style homes. The location of the neighborhood was several miles away from the urbanized areas of Newport News.
Trolley car A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
tracks were run from the city to Hilton Village to allow workers to commute to work at Newport News Shipbuilding and residents access to city services and shopping.NRHP Nomination Form, Hilton Village, Item 7, p. 1.
/ref> The village-style neighborhood was planned so as to offer many services locally. Plots for four churches, a library, a
fire house __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ...
, commercial spaces, and a
school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes co ...
, Hilton Elementary School, were provided for in the plan. The houses and services were grouped together in close proximity to allow for easy walking distances. For recreational purposes, the Hilton Pier and ravine, containing a small park, beach and fishing pier, on the banks of the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesap ...
were included in the plan directly behind Hilton Elementary.


Architecture

Hilton was modeled after an early-English village, a decision which was probably influenced by the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
Garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...
in vogue at the time. The major architectural themes of the houses where
Jacobethan The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance ( ...
, Dutch Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and
Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...
. The houses range from one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half stories, with fourteen major variations of house style. The house types were scattered at random throughout the neighborhood, so that there is no
tract house Tract housing is a type of housing development in which multiple similar houses are built on a tract (area) of land that is subdivided into smaller lots. Tract housing developments are found in suburb developments that were modeled on the "Levit ...
feeling to the neighborhood. Further variations on the fourteen styles was achieved by sheathing variously in
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
,
shingles Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or fac ...
, or
clapboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
s. All of the houses are wood-frame construction with steeply pitched
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
roofs. Roofing styles are varied as well and include
gambrel A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. (The usual architectural term in eighteenth-century England and North America was "Dutch roof".) The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, ...
, hipped, clipped gambrel,
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...
, and clipped gable.


Construction

Clearing the wooded site began on April 18, 1918. By the time of the
Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
in November 1918, almost 200 homes had either been completed or were substantially complete and more than a dozen families lived in Hilton Village. Hilton's formal dedication was held on July 7, 1918. The Hilton Elementary School was completed in 1919. Scaled back to 473 homes after the end of World War I, by the end of 1920 all the homes had been completed and were occupied.


Costs

The cost estimate for site development and building each house was $3,200.


Post-War to Present

In 1921, Hilton Village was purchased from the United States Shipping Board by
Henry E. Huntington Henry Edwards Huntington (February 27, 1850 – May 23, 1927) was an American railroad magnate and collector of art and rare books. Huntington settled in Los Angeles, where he owned the Pacific Electric Railway as well as substantial real estate ...
, chairman of the board at Newport News Shipbuilding. He formed the Newport News Land Company, which ran Hilton as an adjunct of the company. In 1922, many of the houses were put up for private sale, and Hilton Village gradually became a community of homeowners.


Streets named after shipyard and government officials

Of the currently laid out streets in Hilton Village, Hopkins Street, Ferguson Avenue and Post Street are named after three of the earlier past Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company Presidents: *
Walter A. Post Walter A. Post (died February 12, 1912) was the first mayor of Newport News, Virginia. He was born in Kingston, New York on the 7th of January, 1857, and studied as a civil engineer. He was sent to Newport News by his brother-in-law, Eugene Whi ...
- Mar. 9, 1911 to Feb. 12, 1912, earlier, a builder of the C&O Railway's terminals and first mayor of Newport News *
Albert L. Hopkins __NOTOC__ Albert L. Hopkins Jr. (1931 - 2016) was an American computer designer. He worked at the US MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (now known as the Draper Lab) during the development of the Apollo Guidance, Navigation, and Control System, or t ...
- Mar. 14, 1914 to May 7, 1915, the young New Yorker who was traveling to England on the on shipyard business when he died after the ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat *
Homer L. Ferguson Homer Lenoir Ferguson (March 6, 1873 – March 14, 1953) was an author and businessman. He was president of Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, from July 22, 1915, through July 31, 1946. Biography Ferguson w ...
- Jul. 22, 1915 to Jul. 31, 1946 A manager when Hopkins died, Ferguson, who assumed the presidency when Hopkins was killed, saw the company through both world wars, became a noted community leader, and was a co-founder of the
Mariners' Museum The Mariners' Museum and Park is located in Newport News, Virginia, United States. Designated as America’s ''National Maritime Museum'' by Congress, it is one of the largest maritime museums in North America. The Mariners' Museum Library, cont ...
with Archer M. Huntington, stepson of shipyard founder
Collis P. Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested i ...
.


Listing on National Register of Historic Places

To build the new village, the U.S. Shipping Board hired one of the finest urban planners of the era,
Henry Vincent Hubbard Henry Vincent Hubbard (1875 – 1947) was an American landscape architect and planner, famous for his unique teaching styles at Harvard University, and his many publications. He was one of the prime supporters for a national system of public ...
of
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
. Recognized as a pioneering development in the area of
urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, Hilton Village was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1969.


Historic Marker

The text of the historical marker that appears on Warwick Boulevard in Hilton Village reads as follows:


Notable residents

*
William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed f ...
, noted author * J. J. Lankes, illustrator, woodcut artist and college professorJ.J. Lankes, Wells Book Arts Center
* Gary Hudson, actor


Footnotes


External links


Newport News Shipbuilding

Hilton Village Historical Marker

Hilton Village Nextdoor

Explore Hilton Village
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Newport News, Virginia Streetcar suburbs Neighborhoods in Newport News, Virginia Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia