Huntington Park is a park located 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 Uni ...

USA 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It offers a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

, two

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

s. It is run by the

Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism The Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (also known as Newport News Parks) is the government agency responsible for maintaining city parks and other sites of interest to tourists and the general population within the city of New ...

. It was formed through a 1924 donation to the city of Newport News by Henry E. Huntington.

Location

Huntington Park is located near the James River, and it is northwest to the

James River Bridge The James River Bridge (JRB) is a four-lane divided highway lift bridge across the James River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation, it carries U.S. Route 17 (US 17), US 258, ...

Offerings

The park has several different activities available to visitors:

Fort Fun

Fort Fun is a playground built in 1992 in the park. A community group, the Huntington Park Playground Association, was established to develop the playground in the early 1990s. The playground was designed professionally, but with significant contributions from local children on what they wanted to see in their new playground. The playground was then built as a volunteer effort - over 1,000 people contributed their time and effort to getting the playground built. The original wooden Fort Fun was replaced with a metal and plastic playground structure in 2012. Image:Huntington Park Fort Fun 004a.jpg, Fort Fun Image:Huntington Park Fort Fun 011.jpg, Fort Fun Image:Huntington Park Fort Fun 010a.jpg, Picnic ground Image:Huntington Park Fort Fun View.jpg, View of James River

Fishing Pier

The James River Fishing Pier is a privately managed saltwater fishing pier. It utilizes what remains of the old, 2-lane James River Bridge. It is popular year-round with local fishermen. There is a charge to fish this pier, currently $8.50 for adults and $6 for children. There is also a Children's Fishing Pier, which utilizes Lake Biggins. This is a freshwater lake located in the park.

Tennis

The Huntington Park Tennis Center consists of twenty hardcourts. The courts are lighted for use at night. Several city tennis leagues are run at the Center, and instructional classes are available for all ages and skill levels. There is a tennis pro on staff at the center.

Beach

A moderately sized beach is located where the park meets the James River. The beach is staffed with lifeguards from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Concessions are available.

Museums and memorials

Three memorials, remembering servicemen who died in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, the Four Chaplains who gave up their lifejackets to save others in the sinking of the USAT Dorchester during World War II, and victims of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, are located at the park. Huntington Park is also the location of the

Virginia War Museum The Virginia War Museum is located in Huntington Park on Warwick Blvd., Newport News, Virginia. The museum contains exhibits on American military history from 1775 to the present.Virginia War Museum. "Virginia War Museum" brochure, Winter 2007. ...

References

External links

Official site
{{coord, 37.021, -76.454, type:landmark_region:US-VA, display=title Virginia municipal and county parks Parks in Newport News, Virginia