Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city in southeastern Virginia, on the northern shore of the James River where it meets the harbor of Hampton Roads, at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. The 2020 census counted 186,247 residents, making it the fifth most populous city in the state, and its total area is about 309.8 square kilometres, of which roughly 131 square kilometres is water. The land was once part of Warwick County, one of the eight original shires of colonial Virginia created in 1634, and stayed a rural area of plantations and a small fishing village until after the American Civil War. Rapid growth began in 1881 when Collis P. Huntington's railroad extension brought West Virginia coal to the port and he and his associates built a large shipyard. The city was incorporated in 1896 and merged with Warwick by referendum in 1958. Its economy remains closely tied to Newport News Shipbuilding, military bases and the harbor.