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Warwick County (shaded in orange on this 1895 map) was originally one of the eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. It was consolidated with the independent city of Newport News in 1958.

Skiffe's Creek formed the border of Warwick County and James City County beginning in 1634. It is a tributary of the James River

Warwick County is an extinct county in Virginia. It was created as 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 and Jamestown, the area consisted primarily of farms and small unincorporated towns until the arrival of the Peninsula Extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1881 and development led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington.

With the railroad came the coal piers, several local stations in Warwick County for passenger service and shipping produce and seafood to markets, and a branch link to the resorts and military facilities in neighboring Elizabeth City County at Old Point Comfort. The community at the southeastern edge on the harbor of Hampton Roads became the independent city of Newport News in 1896 and soon hosted the world's largest shipyard.

At the outset of World War I, the U.S. Army facility which became Fort Eustis was established in the county. After the war, Camp Patrick Henry, a former military facility, became the site of Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. After sparring over annexations and exploring various plans to refine and/or combine local governments, by mutual agreement, after existing for over 325 years, historic Warwick County was politically consolidated with the younger city of Newport News in 1958, The better known name of Newport News was assumed for the combined entity, forming one of the modern Seven Cities of Hampton Roads.

[edit] Colonial period

During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the settlement at Jamestown in 1607, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By 1634, the English colony of Virginia consisted of eight shires or counties with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants.

Warwick River Shire took its name from Robert Rich, second Earl of Warwick and a prominent member of the Virginia Company who was proprietor of Richneck Plantation. Warwick River Shire became Warwick County in 1643.

The first courthouse and jail were located at Warwick Towne, established in 1680. The colonial port was located at Deep Creek and the Warwick River on 50 acres (200,000 m²) of Samuel Mathews' land. ^[1]

[edit] Statehood, 19th century

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

The new county seat was at Denbigh, where in 1810 Warwick's first brick courthouse was built.^[2] It also served as clerk's office and jail. In 1864, a large courthouse was erected on the same tract, the clerk retaining the old building. Both served until the merger with the city of Newport News in 1958.

[edit] C&O brings railroad transportation, development of a new city

Immediately after the end of the American Civil War in 1865, land agents began acquiring land in Warwick County for Collis P. Huntington, the railroad magnate, for "future enterprise". On the basis of these land purchases, the original city of Newport News was to be built at the southern end of the county. In 1880, Huntington formed the Old Dominion Land Company, to which he turned over his holdings. The following year, in 1881, it was announced that Newport News had been chosen as the Atlantic deep water terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). Construction work on the C&O's Peninsula Extension began at Newport News Point in December 1880. A second crew began building east from Richmond in February 1881. They met 1.25 miles (2.01 km) west of Williamsburg on October 16th, 1881, just three days before

The C&O provided the promised transportation by rail to the Yorktown Centennial on October 19th. During the next few years, Huntington developed the southeastern area of the county extensively, notably building the new Hotel Warwick. In 1886, Huntington established Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company.

Virginia has had an independent city political subdivision since 1871. The boom community of Newport News became an independent city in 1896 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, one of the few cities in Virginia to have never been incorporated as a town.

[edit] 20th century, military facilities, consolidation

In 1918, Warwick County was the site of a new military installation, Camp Abraham Eustis, later renamed Fort Eustis. The U.S. Army base was constructed near the mouth of the Warwick River and included Mulberry Island. Lee Hall, Virginia was the closest railroad station and handled great volumes of troop traffic, especially during World War II.

The leaders of Warwick successfully fought off an annexation attempt by Newport News in 1949, but only by ceding 4 square miles (10 km²) to York County in a clever legal maneuver which was seen as a narrowly-won technical victory. In Virginia, independent city status guarantees protection against annexation of territory by adjacent communities, so in 1952, the county successfully petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to amend its charter so that the remaining area (71 sq mi/184 km²) of Warwick County became an independent city, putting it on an equal footing with Newport News with respect to annexation. Without the threat of a hostile annexation, exploration of various schemes to combine localities in the region continued. Six years later, the citizens of Warwick County and Newport News s voted by referendum to be consolidated. This took place in 1958, assuming the better known name of Newport News and creating Virginia's third largest city in population, and the largest in area at the time.

For history between 1952 and 1958, see also City of Warwick.
For history since 1958, see Newport News, Virginia.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[0] ttp://www2.ci.newport-news.va.us/newport-news/plan/framework2008/section_d393749e876.html

[1] Old Warwick County Courthouse

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