Newport News

Newport News
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Location in Virginia
	Newport News
	Newport News
Basic data
Foundation :	1621
State :	United States
State :	Virginia
County :	District-free city
Coordinates :	37 ° 4 ′ N , 76 ° 29 ′ W Coordinates: 37 ° 4 ′ N , 76 ° 29 ′ W
Time zone :	Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Inhabitants : ; - Metropolitan Area :	180,719 (status: 2010); 1,672,319 (status: 2010)
Population density :	1,021.6 inhabitants per km²
Area :	308.3 km² (about 119 mi²) of; which 176.9 km² (about 68 mi²) is land
Height :	4.5 m
Postcodes :	23601 - 23609, 23612, 23628 (US Army)
Area code :	+1 757
FIPS :	51-56000
GNIS ID :	1497043
Website :	www.nngov.com
Mayor :	McKinley L. Price
	; Post office and courthouse in 1941

Newport News is an independent city in the US state of Virginia and stretches along the James River between Williamsburg and Norfolk . It is located in the north of the Hampton Roads region and with about 175 km² is the fourth largest city in terms of area and with 180,719 inhabitants in 2010 the fifth largest city in Virginia.

history

The city was founded in 1621. The origin of the name has not yet been clearly established. An interesting explanation is the following: When the first English settlers from Jamestown wanted to sail back to England after a period of famine in 1610 , they met the ship of Captain Christopher Newport at what is now Newport News , which arrived with supplies and reinforcements. They didn't have to give up Jamestown because of Newport's good news . A more mundane explanation is found in the Old English word news , which means new location . The place was originally called Newport's News . Since 1866 the name has been used by the American Post as Newport News .

On July 1, 1958, the city of Warwick was merged with Newport News.

The Newport News Shipbuilding shipyard is based here. The city's university is named after Christopher Newport ( Christopher Newport University ).

Three US Navy ships have been named after the city : the freighter Newport News (AK-3) , the heavy cruiser Newport News (CA-148) and the currently in service nuclear submarine Newport News (SSN-750) .

Newport News is home to the Mariners' Museum, the largest maritime museum in North America and one of the largest in the world.

Population development

year	Inhabitants¹
1980	144.903
1990	171,439
2000	180,150
2010	180.719

¹ 1980–2010: Census Results

Town twinning

Japan Neyagawa , Japan
China People's Republic Taizhou , People's Republic of China
Germany Greifswald , Germany since 2007

sons and daughters of the town

Harvey Boone (≈1898–1939), jazz musician
John Van Ryn (1905-1999), tennis player
Ward Pinkett (1906-1937), jazz trumpeter
Pearl Bailey (1918–1990), actress and singer
Tiny Grimes (1916–1989), guitarist and singer
Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996), jazz singer
Howard Boatwright (1918–1999), composer, violinist, musicologist and author
William Styron (1925-2006), novelist
Hazel R. O'Leary (born 1937), politician
Queen Esther Marrow (born 1941), singer
Edmund M. Clarke (1945–2020), computer scientist and Turing Prize winner
Howard Siler (1945-2014), bobsledder
Frankie Faison (born 1949), actor
Steve Riddick (* 1951), sprinter and Olympic champion
Mark Gordon (* 1956), film producer
Billy Drummond (born 1959), jazz drummer
Sonja Sohn (* 1964), actress
Orlando Serrell (* 1969), island talent
Mike Tomlin (* 1972), football coach
David Hornsby (born 1975), actor
Richard Kelly (* 1975), director and screenwriter
Martha Madison (born 1977), actress
Tripp Phillips (born 1977), tennis player
Michael Vick (born 1980), football player
Nick Thompson (* 1981), martial artist
Elton Brown (born 1983), basketball player
Christine Marshall (* 1986), swimmer

Web links

Commons : Newport News - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Newport News - Travel Guide

Official website of Newport News (English)