Warwick Town

Warwick Town. From Courthouse to City Farm. , (Center Panel) , Warwick Town, Riverview Farm Park, built on the site of the former Warwick Town, is home to the Fantasy Farm Playground, a 30,000 square foot community playground. The park also includes soccer fields, picnic shelters, concession stand, visitors center and a paved two-mile walking trail with scenic shoreline views. Contact (757) 886-7912 to reserve a shelter or to schedule a program., Exhibit prepared by the Historic Services Division of the Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism For further information, contact (757) 926-1400 or www.nnparks.com, (Left Panel) , From Courthouse, In June 1680, Virginia's House of Burgesses passed the first of three acts establishing port towns within the colony. One was to be on the eastern bluff of the Warwick River at Deep Creek. The complex of Warwick Town, 50 acres in size, featured a commons with a brick courthouse and jail as well as houses and businesses. The site of Warwick's first urban center was the scene of considerable commercial activity. A wharf, shipbuilding facilities, tobacco warehouses and a boat yard were located in the vicinity, and a ferry plied the James River from the site. Major property owners included Col. William Diggs, one of the county's wealthiest men, and members of the Young family who operated a lucrative ordinary. , However, Town Point remained rural in character. In 1800, residents petitioned the General Assembly to relocate the remote courthouse along the main public highway, the Great Warwick Road. , , Despite objections by tavern-keeper Richard Young, in 1810 a new courthouse was built at Stony Run in Denbigh and Warwick Town's charter was repealed. The land returned to agricultural use., (captions) , At some point in the 1680s, county trustees purchased 50 acres at the mouth of Deep Creek to create Warwick Town., Colonial records reveal that by 1691, there were "several houses there built, together with a brick court house and prison" at Warwick Town. By the 1730s, a tobacco inspection warehouse formed part of the complex and was still in use in 1750, even though cultivation had all but ceased in Tidewater., Oyster shell and deer jawbone, English wine bottle, c. 1740-1780, found during an archaeological dig at the Warwick Town site., (Right Panel) , To City Farm, As part of Confederate fortifications, in 1862 a small earthwork was erected at the mouth of Deep Creek and 30 canal boats were sunk in the Warwick River to obstruct Union ships. After the Civil War, harsh economic conditions led the Young heirs to sell the land to Hudson and Sallie Mench who operated a sawmill here. The Menches lived at Deep Creek 50 years, lending the vicinity its present name of Menchville., Ownership of the area passed to the City of Newport News in the 20th century. By 1931, the site had become a municipal prison farm. Two archaeological surveys conducted in the 1980s have yielded an array of artifacts. The precise location of Warwick Town remains uncertain. Speculation is that the City Farm structures were built over the foundations of the former town., In the 1990s, some of the acreage was utilized to create Riverview Farm Park. Municipal planning encompasses the possibility of one day relocating the City Farm operation so that the entirety of this historic tract may be preserved and interpreted as a working farm from the early 20th century. At such time, the secrets of Warwick Town may be fully revealed., (captions) , The Newport News City Farm. The prison barracks were completed in 1931 and expanded in the late 1970s to house approximately 150 nonviolent offenders. In 1937, inmates constructed the brick gambrel roofed barn; its original milking stalls, pens and an earthen ramp remain intact., In this 1862 reconnaissance map, the canal boats and earthwork defending the Warwick River at Deep Creek are clearly marked. Today, remains of the latter are still visible in the yard south of the prison dormitory., Metal finds included coins, military buttons, belt tips, buckles and minie balls., Chinese porcelain saucer, 1785-1800.