Name
The original area near the mouth of the James River was first referred to as Newportes Newes as early as 1621.
The source of the name "Newport News" is not known with certainty. Several versions are recorded, and it is subject of popular speculation locally. Probably the best-known explanation holds that when an early group of Jamestown colonists left to return to England after the Starving Time during the winter of 1609–1610 aboard a ship of Captain Christopher Newport, they encountered another fleet of supply ships under the new Governor Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr in the James River off Mulberry Island with reinforcements of men and supplies. The new governor ordered them to turn around, and return to Jamestown. Under this theory, the community was named for Newport's "good news." Another possibility is that the community may have derived its name from an old English word "news" meaning "new town." At least one source claims that the "New" arose from the original settlement's being rebuilt after a fire.
Another source gave the original name as New Port Newce, named for a person with the name Newce and the town's place as a new seaport. The namesake, Sir William Newce, was an English soldier and originally settled in Ireland. There he had established Newcestown near Bandon in County Cork. Newce sailed to Virginia with Sir Francis Wyatt in October 1621 and was granted 2,500 acres (1,012 ha) of land. He died two days later. His brother, Capt. Thomas Newce, was given "600 acres at Kequatan, now called Elizabeth Cittie." A partner Daniel Gookin completed founding the settlement.
Fiske writes:
... several old maps where the name is given as Newport Ness, being the mariner's way of saying Newport Point.
The fact that the name formerly appeared as "Newport's News" is verified by numerous early documents and maps, and by local tradition. The change to Newport News came about through usage, for by 1851 the Post Office Department sanctioned "New Port News" (three words) as the name of the first post office. In 1866 it approved the name as "Newport News", the current form.
Read more about this topic: Newport News, Virginia
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