Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/17/1986
NRHP Listing Date 08/28/1986
NRHP Reference Number 86001999
The tightly developed twenty-two-block residential district, paralleling the James River northwest of downtown, evolved in three major phases between 1900 and 1935. The 1881 extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio tracks to the deepwater terminal, and the founding of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. in 1886 spurred a need for housing. The area was subsequently laid out by the Old Dominion Land Co. In the early period, 1900-10, both shipyard managers and skilled workmen resided here. The more affluent built architecturally distinguished houses along Huntington Avenue overlooking the James River. Many more dwellings were erected for the swelling population during World War I. Prominent residents have included shipyard presidents Homer L. Ferguson and Walter A. Post, who also was the city’s first mayor; Samuel R. Buxton and Phillip A. Hiden, later mayors of Newport News; and Saxon W. Holt, Virginia lieutenant governor 1938-1940.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: February 21, 2021
