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Huntington Park is a park located in Newport News, Virginia, US. It offers a beach, two fishing piers, gardens, tennis, and museums. It is run by the Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. It was formed through a 1924 donation to the city of Newport News by Henry E. Huntington. [1]
Huntington Park is located near the James River, and it is northwest to the James River Bridge. [2]
The park has several different activities available to visitors:
Fort Fun is a playground built in 1992 in the park. A community group, the Huntington Park Playground Association, was established to develop the playground in the early 1990s. The playground was designed professionally, but with significant contributions from local children on what they wanted to see in their new playground. The playground was then built as a volunteer effort - over 1,000 people contributed their time and effort to getting the playground built. The original wooden Fort Fun was replaced with a metal and plastic playground structure in 2012.
The James River Fishing Pier is a privately managed saltwater fishing pier. It utilizes what remains of the old, 2-lane James River Bridge. It is popular year-round with local fishermen. There is a charge to fish this pier, currently $8.50 for adults and $6 for children.
There is also a Children's Fishing Pier, which utilizes Lake Biggins. This is a freshwater lake located in the park.
The Huntington Park Tennis Center consists of twenty hardcourts. The courts are lighted for use at night. Several city tennis leagues are run at the Center, and instructional classes are available for all ages and skill levels. There is a tennis pro on staff at the center.
A moderately sized beach is located where the park meets the James River. The beach is staffed with lifeguards from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Concessions are available.
Three memorials, remembering servicemen who died in the Vietnam War, the Four Chaplains who gave up their lifejackets to save others in the sinking of the USAT Dorchester during World War II, and victims of the Holocaust, are located at the park. Huntington Park is also the location of the Virginia War Museum.
Newport News is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the fifth-most populous city in Virginia and 140th-most populous city in the United States.
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Hilton Village is a planned English-village-style neighborhood in Newport News, Virginia. Recognized as a pioneering development in urban planning, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood was built between 1918 and 1921 in response to the need for housing during World War I for employees of Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company. It is recognized as the United States' first Federal war-housing project.
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Newport News has a long history dating back to the days of Jamestown, Virginia. The area which is now the city of Newport News has existed under different names and forms including Elizabeth Cittie, Warwick River Shire, Warwick County, Virginia, Warwick City, and the current independent city of Newport News.
The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an important new pathway for coal mined in West Virginia to reach the harbor of Hampton Roads for coastal and export shipping on collier ships.