Historical Information:In 1869, financier Collis P. Huntington and a number of others formed a group to purchase controlling interest in teh Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company. During the reorganization meeting of the stockholders, Huntington was elected president. Agents of the company began to purchase land between Richmond and Newport News in 1870 and in 1872, a decision was made to locate the Atlantic terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in Newport News. The Old Dominion Land Company was chartered in 1880 to secure railway right-of-ways on the Peninsula. Railroad construction on the peninsula began in 1880 and two years later, the Old Dominion Land Company began work on the Hotel Warwick, which opened the same year. The Old Dominion Land Company contributed to the establishment of a number of community facilities, including Newport News' first bank, the Warwick County Courthouse, and a Union Chapel. They also donated the land which was used to build Riverside Hospital, the public library, and Huntington Park.

Collis P. Huntington died unexpectedly at the beginning of the new century, leaving his interests to Arabella Huntington, his widow, his adopted children, Princess Clara von Hatzvelt and Archer M. Huntington, and Henry E. Huntington, his nephew who later married Arabella. Upon the United States' entrance into World War I, the federal government entered into a number of leases and purchase agreements with the Old Dominion Land Company because of Newport News' importance as a place of embarkment. Thousands of soldiers were stationed at bases which were built on land owned by the Old Dominion Land Company.

By 1932, nearly all of the profitable property owned by the Old Dominion Land Company had been sold. Within the decade, the company was almost entirely liquidated, with the Hotel Warwick as the only valuable property still owned by the Old Dominion Land Company. Liquidation of the company was completed in 1948.

For a more detailed history of the Old Dominion Land Company, see "A Finding Aid to the records of the Old Dominion Land Company"

Scope and Content:Old Dominion Land Company Business Records, 1881-1949, consists of eight volumes that document the development of property in Newport News, Va. Occasionally information appears relating to the development of property in other Virginia counties such as Gloucester, Norfolk, New Kent, and Rockbridge.

Historical Information:The Peninsula Automobile Association was organized with 39 charter numbers in Newport News in 1909. It became a club member of the American Automobile Association in 1919. The American Automobile Association was founded in 1902, in Chicago, Illinois, when nine motor clubs banded together in response to the lack of roads and highways suitable for automobiles.

Scope and Content:The Peninsula Automobile Association consists of two volumes, a minute book and an account book. The minutes contain committee reports, records of election of officers, and a record of the proceedings of monthly meetings. Topics discussed include the state of roads, efforts to lobby the government to improve, expand, and maintain roads and streets, fundraising, and service projects, such as providing cars to assist the Red Cross in entertaining wounded soldiers. Accounts are a record of receipts and disbursements for the year 1921.

Historical Information:Chartered in 1901, the Savings Bank of Newport News did not open its doors until 1 March 1902. The bank operated in Newport News, Va., during the early twentieth century. Early officers of the bank included L. F. Barnes, president, and Carter Perkins, cashier and secretary.

Scope and Content:The Savings Bank of Newport News business records consists of one stock book and one minute book.

Historical Information:The Warwick Machine Company was a marine engineering and machinery company operating in Newport News, Va. In 1950 the company sold its assets to the Hooper Valve and Engineering Corporation.

Scope and Content:The business records of the Warwick Machine Company consist of a ledger, receivership records, trial balance records, a letter book, and records of losses. Only the ledger book has been processed.