Read about Newport News' history as a vital early settlement in the nascent America and its center for commerce and more, until the start of WWII. Settled in 1621, Newport News has the oldest English place name of any city in the New World. Its name is said to have come from Newport's news that supply ships were coming to save the starving Jamestown colonists in 1610. Farming and fishing were the primary occupations until Collis...