WAY BACK THEN:

1929 Beacon (yearbook)

1930

1930s

"In 1922, Charles M. Robinson, a Richmond architect, was awarded the contract to design a new high school to be built in the heart of Newport News.  The resulting three-story structure, erected on the site of the former turn-of-the-century livery stables and later a U.S. Army Camp, was completed in 1923 and named Newport News High School.  The contracting firm of Harwood and Moss performed the construction.  Two-story pilasters and Corinthian columns rising from the first floor give the impression of two stories built above a raised basement.  The original structure contained 57 rooms and could accommodate 990 students.  Seven years later, two wings were added on the north and south, as were additional classrooms on the building's east side.  The additions were more modest but in keeping with the style of the original construction.  In 1935, the Joseph H. Saunders Stadium was dedicated on the adjacent easterly property.  Williams, Coile, and Pipino, the designers of the stadium which included classroom space beneath, later designed further additions to the school building itself.  A fire in (1954) caused nearly one-half million dollars in damage to the structure.  As a result, the auditorium was redesigned and the cafeteria moved to a new wing.  1963 saw the addition of a new gymnasium across 30th Street from the school.  In 1971, citywide changes in the distribution of students and the addition of newer facilities elsewhere in the City brought about the change of Newport News High School to Newport News Intermediate School, serving only 8th and 9th grade students.  On June 12, 1980, the school was officially closed.  The structure remains today as a reminder of the 57 years it served as one the area's finest public schools and as a tribute to its thousands of graduates, many of whom have become prominent citizens of Newport News."

- Department of Planning and Development, 1996

This information contained on the numbered lithographs commissioned in 1996,
courtesy of Jimmy Parker ('62) of VA - 10/27/00
Thanks, Jimmy!  (added 05/20/04 - better late than never!)

NOW:

Huntington Hall

Saturday, October 28, 2000

Now used by the U.S. Navy and renamed Huntington Hall,
the old school now serves as a Bachelors Enlisted Quarters. 
It also houses a USO:

usohr.com/page16.html

- Carol Buckley Harty of NC - 05/06/03

Saturday, October 28, 2000

Images taken
Mother's Day, Sunday, May 12, 2003:

newport-news.va.us/parks/sport1.htm

ohainc.org/ohacommsvcs.htm

theplanningcouncil.org/tpcdatabase/iw0mdbm7.htm
 

Your stock shot
of the front facade.

Old Gym 

No real comments here;
It just seemed like a necessary shot to show the old gym and
the cafeteria.
We spent a lot of time outside those doors just "hanging".

Just a nostalgia shot
of our once-glorious
Saunders Stadium.

Stadium Ticket Gate: 

Another place where we spent some time, either entering on crisp Fall Friday nights for football games or just going in to class each morning.

Friday, September 26, 2003

- Aretie Gallins Patterson ('59) of Northern VA - 03/24/05
Thanks so much!

Words and Music by Arthur Hundley, 1937


Within these sacred walls we stand,
To praise thine honored name,
We sing to thee, dear Newport High,
Thy glories we proclaim.

Hail, hail to the Gold and Blue,
We raise thy banners high,
And ever through thine endless days,
In triumph, may they fly.

O Alma Mater, in our hearts,
We'll often turn to thee,
And echo once again the songs
Of thy dear memory.