Warwick is an extinct

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 ...

which was located in the State of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

in 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., ...

from 1952 until 1958. Formed by a political conversion of the former

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 ...

(1634–1952), it is now part of the independent city of

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 ...

History

Warwick River Shire, named for the Warwick River, was established in the British

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...

by order of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

in 1634. Soon thereafter, it was renamed Warwick County, and eventually became one of the smaller and lesser populated counties in Virginia as the colony grew and after Virginia became a state. Warwick County remained a primarily farming area until the arrival of the

Peninsula Extension The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an ...

of the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

in late 1881. At rural Newport News Point, on the harbor of

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic ...

, a small community of farms was transformed into a major port for shipping

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

. Virginia has had an

political subdivision since 1871. Newport News became an independent city in 1896 from Warwick County by an act of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

, one of the few cities in Virginia to have never been first incorporated as a town. An important feature of independent city status was that it guaranteed protection against annexation of territory by adjacent communities. In 1952, the remaining 71 sq mi (184 km²) of Warwick County became an

. On July 1, 1958, after approval of voters in both jurisdictions, the City of Warwick was consolidated with the independent city of

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 ...

, reuniting the two communities legally and assuming the latter's name. At a ribbon cutting ceremony, the widow of Philip W. Hiden, the first mayor of Newport News to serve under a new City Council-City Manager form of government from 1920 to 1924 whose family developed the Hidenwood community Hidenwood Historical Marker in Newport News, VA
/ref> joined the widow of

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 ...

, who had been a President of

Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock 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 ...

and is credited with initiating development of

Hilton Village Hilton Village is a planned English-village-style neighborhood in Newport News, Virginia. Recognized as a pioneering development in urban planning, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood was built between 1918 ...

, as the Guests of Honor. These elderly ladies helped formalize the reunification of the area which had previously been one single unit of local government from 1634 to 1896. The union formed the third largest city in Virginia at the time with a area. It is one of the major cities of

which is linked by the

Hampton Roads Beltway The Hampton Roads Beltway is a loop of Interstate 64 and Interstate 664, which links the communities of the Virginia Peninsula and South Hampton Roads which surround the body of water known as Hampton Roads and comprise much of the region of the ...

encircling the harbor of Hampton Roads. With the exception of several minor boundary adjustments with Elizabeth City County and York County, and the annexation by Newport News of the

incorporated town An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation. Canada Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government. United Kingdom United States An in ...

Kecoughtan In the seventeenth century, Kecoughtan was the name of the settlement now known as Hampton, Virginia, In the early twentieth century, it was also the name of a town nearby in Elizabeth City County. It was annexed into the City of Newport News in 19 ...

(formerly in Elizabeth City County) in the 1920s, the boundaries of the city of Newport News as of 2008 are essentially those of Warwick River Shire when it was established in 1634.

References

{{Authority control Former municipalities in Virginia History of Newport News, Virginia Neighborhoods in Newport News, Virginia

History

See also

References