Denbigh is a community in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

. It was previously the County Seat of

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. Located on the Virginia Peninsula on the northern bank of the James River between Hampton Roads ...

until the county became 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 ...

Warwick, Virginia Warwick is an extinct independent city which was located in the state of Virginia in the United States from 1952 until 1958. Formed by a political conversion of the former Warwick County (1634–1952), it is now part of the independent city ...

in 1952. Warwick and Newport News merged in 1958 to form the present-day city of Newport News.

History

Denbigh was named for Denbigh Plantation, which was patented by Captain Samuel Matthews, who came to Virginia before 1618, filled several important posts, and became the father of Lt. Col. Samuel Mathews, a colonial governor of the Virginia Commonwealth from 1656 to 1660. His son John Mathews (b. 1659 – May 1, 1706) lived at the plantation until sometime after receiving a land grant for several thousand acres just south of this area 1678. He married Elizabeth Tavernor on March 24, 1684. The Cole-Digges family acquired the plantation between 1698 and 1720. Denbigh was also the name given to the colonial Anglican Parish in the area, which existed from 1635 until it was disestablished by the

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was drafted in 1777 by Thomas Jefferson in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and introduced into the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond in 1779. On January 16, 1786, the Assembly enacted the statute into the ...

in 1786. An

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

still exists in the area where the original 1636 church building stood, and a historical marker near the later 1686 site. The first courthouse and jail were located nearby, at Warwick Towne, established in 1680. The colonial port was located at Deep Creek and the Warwick River on of Samuel Mathews' land. In 1790, Warwick County recorded 1,690 persons in the Federal Census, making it the third-smallest county population-wise in Virginia. After the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, in 1809, Warwick Towne was abandoned, and the county seat was moved to the area near Stoney Run. The town of Denbigh was the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Warwick County from 1810 until 1952, except for a short period from 1888 to 1896 when the courthouse was located in what is now downtown Newport News. It was moved back to Denbigh when Newport News became an

in 1896. Warwick County became an independent city itself in 1952. Six years later, in 1958, the

City of Warwick The City of Warwick was a Local government in Australia, local government area administering the regional centre of Warwick, Queensland, Warwick in the Darling Downs region of Queensland. The City covered an area of , and existed as a local gov ...

consolidated with the independent City of Newport News, assuming the latter's better-known name.

Denbigh as a neighborhood of Newport News

The present-day City of Newport News essentially includes all the territory of Warwick River Shire, formed in 1634 in commonwealth Virginia, which became Warwick County in 1643. The former town of Denbigh is now considered a neighborhood area of Newport News. The preserved 1810 Warwick County Courthouse at Denbigh is now a museum. The Denbigh neighborhood is in the north side of the city, and covers most of the area around the former town. Denbigh Boulevard, which for much of its length carries State Route 173, is a north–south connector road linking the two main east–west arterial roads running through the city, U.S. Route 60 (Warwick Boulevard) and State Route 143 (Jefferson Avenue). Many businesses and shopping centers are located along this road. Denbigh High School, located on Denbigh Boulevard, is part of the

Newport News Public Schools Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) is a division of Newport News, Virginia that operates the city's system of public schools. , NNPS had an enrollment of 26,648. NNPS employed about 2,738, including approximately 1,714 teachers. Governance NNP ...

division.

History

Denbigh as a neighborhood of Newport News

References

See also