Morrison was a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

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 ...

. After a municipal consolidation in 1958, it became a neighborhood of the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

Newport News 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 ...

History

Originally known as Gum Grove, the town of Morrison was located in Warwick County east of the longtime

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Denbigh. In 1881, the community was made a station on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's Peninsula Extension which was completed from Richmond east down the

Virginia Peninsula The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the ''Lower Peninsula'' to distinguish it from two other peninsulas to the n ...

. It was renamed Morrison for Colonel J.S. Morrison, a construction engineer for the new railroad.Camp Morrison history marker-WWI-Newport News VA
At Newport News Point in the extreme southeastern edge of Warwick County, on the harbor of Hampton Roads, new coal piers were built for the export shipment of bituminous coal from

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. Soon, a new

was created there as

in 1896. Morrison post office was established February 2, 1883, and a public school was recorded in a deed dated August 16, 1906. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Camp Morrison was located nearby about one mile from the James River. With 24 supply warehouses, Camp Morrison was used for the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

and Balloon Corps personnel. After World War I, Morrison High School was built in the community in 1926. It was renamed Warwick High School in 1948. Warwick County, which included Morrison, became an independent city itself in 1952. Six years later, in 1958, by mutual agreement the City of Warwick was politically consolidated with the independent City of Newport News, assuming the latter's better-known name. Morrison gradually became a neighborhood area of Newport News as the portion which had been Warwick County became developed. As a primarily residential area, Morrison, which is also known locally as Harpersville,http://www.ci.newport-news.va.us/planning/downloads/ch9.pdf offers quiet tree-lined streets with easy access to shopping, recreation and schools. Camp Morrison Industrial Park is nearby.

References

Unincorporated communities in Virginia Neighborhoods in Newport News, Virginia {{NewportNewsVA-geo-stub

History

See also

References