Editing Newport News, Virginia (section)

===1900s===

In 1907 President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] sent the [[Great White Fleet]] on its round-the-world voyage. NNS had already built seven of that fleet's 16 battleships. In 1906 the revolutionary [[HMS Dreadnought]] launched a great additional naval buildup worldwide, and the Newport News would directly benefit from that work, leading all the way up to World War I.

From 1912 to 1914, Collis Huntingon's nephew, [[Henry E. Huntington]], assumed leadership of the shipyard. [[Huntington Park (Newport News, Virginia)|Huntington Park]], developed after [[World War I]] near the northern terminus of the [[James River Bridge]], is named for him.<ref>[http://www.nn.northropgrumman.com/about/history.html "History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216183327/http://www.nn.northropgrumman.com/about/history.html |date=December 16, 2005 }}, Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding. Accessed April 3, 2008.</ref>

Albert Lloyd Hopkins, president of Newport News Shipbuilding at that time, was killed May 7, 1915 while traveling to England on shipyard business aboard [[RMS Lusitania]], which was torpedoed by a German submarine. [[Homer L. Ferguson]] became president of the company, and would see it through both World Wars.  During [[World War I]], Newport News was headquarters to the [[Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation]].  Between 1918 and 1920 NNS delivered 25 destroyers to the US Navy.

The city grew in territory through the annexation of parts of Warwick County and also of the town of [[Kecoughtan, Virginia|Kecoughtan]] in adjoining [[Elizabeth City County, Virginia|Elizabeth City County]] in 1927.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bains |first=David R. |date=2022-08-17 |title=Town of Kecoughtan, Virginia |url=https://chasingchurches.com/2022/08/17/town-of-kecoughtan-virginia/ |access-date=2022-08-19 |website=Chasing Churches |language=en}}</ref>

Collis Huntington's son, [[Archer M. Huntington]] and his wife, sculptor [[Anna Hyatt Huntington]], developed the [[Mariners' Museum]] beginning in 1932. They created a natural park and the community's [[The Mariners' Lake|Mariners' Lake]] in the process. A major feature of Newport News, the Mariners' Museum has grown to become one of the largest and finest [[maritime museum]]s in the world.<ref>[http://www.amnumsoc.org/archives/HuntingtonBio.htm Archer M. Huntington (1870–1955)] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20040625000539/http://www.amnumsoc.org/archives/HuntingtonBio.htm |date=June 25, 2004 }}. Retrieved July 21, 2005</ref>

[[File:Washington Avenue in the 1940s.jpg|thumb|Washington Avenue, downtown, in the 1940s]]
[[File:Launch of USS Birmingham (CL-62) at Newport News Shipbuilding on 20 March 1942 (NH 75592).jpg|thumb|The newly constructed [[USS Birmingham (CL-62)|USS ''Birmingham'']] is launched from the Newport News yards in 1942]]

In [[World War II]], Newport News would again be the headquarters for the reactivated [[Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation]].

Although fashionable housing and businesses developed in downtown, the increase in industry and the development of new suburbs pushed and pulled retail and residential development to the west and north after [[World War II]]. Such suburban development was aided by national subsidization of highway construction and was part of a national trend to newer housing.

In 1958, the citizenry of the cities of Warwick and Newport News voted by referendum to consolidate the two cities, choosing to assume the better-known name of Newport News. The merger created the third largest city by population in Virginia, with a {{convert|65|sqmi|km2|0}} area. The boundaries of the City of Newport News today are essentially the boundaries of the original Warwick River Shire and the traditional one of Warwick County, with the exception of minor border adjustments with neighbors.<ref name=":0">Scott, Thomas M. "Metropolitan Governmental Reorganization Proposals", ''The Western Political Quarterly'', Vol. 21, No. 2 (Jun. 1968), pp. 252–261 {{doi|10.2307/446305}}.</ref>

In July 1989, the United States Navy commissioned the third naval vessel named after the city with the entry of the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine {{USS|Newport News|SSN-750|6}}, built at Newport News Shipbuilding, into active service.  The ship was initially commanded by CDR. Mark B. Keef; the city held a public celebration of the event, which was attended by Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle. In conjunction with this milestone, a song was written by a city native and formally adopted by Newport News City Council in July 1989. The lyrics appear with permission from the author:

<blockquote>(First verse): Harbor of a thousand ships/Forger of a nation's fleet/Gateway to the New World/Where ocean and river meet<br />(Chorus): Strength wrought from steel/And a people's fortitude/Such is the timeless legacy/Of a place called Newport News<br />(Second verse): Nestled in a blessed land/Gifted with a special view/Forever home for ev'ry man/With a spirit proud and true<br />(repeat chorus to fade)</blockquote>