Denbigh was a small unincorporated town in Warwick County, Virginia. It was named for Denbigh Plantation, which was patented by Colonel Samuel Mathews , who came to Virginia before 1618, filled several important posts, and became the father of Samuel Mathews , governor of the Virginia colony from 1657-1660.
The town of Denbigh was the county seat of Warwick County from 1810 until 1952, except for a short period from 1888 to 1896 when the courthouse has located in what is now downtown Newport News. It was moved back to Denbigh when Newport News became an independent city in 1896.
Warwick County became an independent city itself in 1952. Six years later, in 1958, the City of Warwick consolidated with the independent city of Newport News, assuming the latter's better-known name.
The present-day City of Newport News essentially includes all the territory of Warwick River Shire, formed in 1634 in colonial Virginia, which became Warwick County in 1643. Denbigh is now considered a neighborhood area of Newport News. The preserved 1810 Warwick County Courthouse at Denbigh is now a museum.
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