Warwick River Shire was one of eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. It was located on the Virginia Peninsula on the northern shore of the James River between Hampton Roads and the Jamestown Settlement.

During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607, English settlers and explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By 1634, the English colony of Virginia consisted of eight shires or counties with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants.

Warwick River Shire took it's name from Robert Rich, second Earl of Warwick and a prominent member of the Virginia Company. Warwick River Shire became Warwick County in 1643. The first courthouse and jail were located at Warwick Towne. In 1790, Warwick County recorded 1,690 persons in the Federal Census, making it the third smallest county in Virginia. After the American Revolution, Warwick Towne was abandoned, and the county seat was moved to the area of Denbigh Plantation, near Stoney Run.

The new county seat was at Denbigh, where in 1810 Warwick's first brick courthouse was built. It also served as clerk's office and jail. In 1864, a large courthouse was erected on the same tract, the clerk retaining the old building. Both served until the merger with the city of Newport News in 1958.

Immediately after the end of the American Civil War in 1865, land agents began acquiring land in Warwick County for Collis P. Huntington, the railroad magnate, for "future enterprise". On the basis of these land purchases, the original city of Newport News was to be built at the southern end of the county. In 1881, Newport News chosen as the Atlantic deep water terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), which was owned by Collis P. Huntington. In 1886, Huntington established Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Warwick County.

Virginia has had an independent city political subdivision since 1871. Newport News became an independent city in 1896 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, one of the few cities in Virginia to have never been incorporated as a town.

In 1918, Warwick County was the site of Camp Eustis, later renamed Fort Eustis, a U.S. Army base constructed near the mouth of the Warwick River . Independent city status guarantees protection against annexation of territory by adjacent communities. In 1952, the remaining ( 71 sq mi/184 sq km) of Warwick County became an independent city. On July 1, 1958, after approval of voters in both jurisdictions, the City of Warwick was consolidated with the independent city of Newport News, reuniting the two communities legally and assuming the latter's name. The union formed the third largest city in Virginia at the time with a 65 square mile area. The boundaries of the city of Newport News today are essentially the boundaries of the original Warwick River Shire.

See also

• Newport News, Virginia
• List of extinct U.S. counties