Indians. Following these the Indian
threat to Elizabeth City was essentially removed and the area came to
enjoy peace and freedom for development as was reflected in the census
of 1624 and that of 1625. In 1623 it was called in one document "the
first plantation." The Elizabeth City community embraced the sites of
Point Comfort, Fort Charles, Fort Henry, and Kecoughtan, west of Hampton
Creek, as well as the areas of Buck Roe, "Strawberry Banks," east of
Hampton Creek, and "Indian Thickett."

NEWPORT NEWS (41)

The English first saw the site of Newport News on May 2, 1607 as they
ascended the James River en route to Jamestown. There is, however, no
reference to an Indian site here or to any specific use of the area,
which Smith listed as "Point Hope" on his map of Virginia, until more
than a decade later, November, 1621 when Daniel Gookin settled here. It
is reported that "at _Nupor[t]s-newes_: the cotton trees in a yeere grew
so thicke as ones arme, and so high as a man: here; any thing that is
planted doth prosper so well as in no other place better."

A brief account penned by David Pietersz de Vries, a Dutch shipmaster,
who visited Virginia in March, 1633 implies that Newport News then was
an established watering point for incoming, and even outgoing, vessels.
His description tends to provoke the thought that such had been the case
for years, perhaps from the early days of Virginia. "The 10th, we sailed
up the river [James]. When we came to the before-mentioned point of
Newport-Snuw, we landed and took in water. A fine spring lies inside the
shore of the river, convenient for taking water from. All the ships come
here to take in water on their way home. After we had procured some
water, we sailed on...." On March 20, when leaving Virginia, De Vries
observed again "anchored at evening before the point of Newport-Snuw,
where we took in water."

The earliest known reference to the name Newport News is in a letter
written from Jamestown on November 11, 1619 when the inhabitants of
Kecoughtan were assured the opportunity "to choose ther divident alonge
the banke of the great river betweene Kequohtan and Newportes Newes."
The origin of its name is obscure yet it is not unlikely that Captain
Christopher Newport is honored here. A second reference, one in January,
1620 lists "Newports Newes." Later references, in the Virginia Company
records (1621-24), show varying forms: "Newportnewes," "Nuports Newes,"
"New ports-new