History
During the American Civil War, the current park was the site of the Battle of Dam No. 1, part of the Battle of Yorktown (1862). In the days prior to the battle, the Confederate forces constructed rifle pits and other earth works from which they held off the Union Army forces commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. The earth works were preserved; though overgrown with woods, they are accessible from the White Oak nature trail on the camping side of the reservoir.
In the 1960s, as Newport News grew, the city found itself taxing its water supply. The solution to the problem was to purchase several lakes in the Lee Hall area and pump the water into the city. To protect the cleanliness of the water, a watershed around the new Lee Hall Reservoir was created. The watershed was developed into Newport News Park in 1966, primarily through the efforts of City Manager Joe Biggins, who considered the development of a large park important as the city continued to grow.
Read more about this topic: Newport News Park
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of our era is the nauseating and repulsive history of the crucifixion of the procreative body for the glorification of the spirit.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“I think that Richard Nixon will go down in history as a true folk hero, who struck a vital blow to the whole diseased concept of the revered image and gave the American virtue of irreverence and skepticism back to the people.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)