Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Peninsula Automobile Association Minutes and Accounts, 1919-1921. Local government records collection, Newport News (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Newport News Circuit Court.

The collection is located at the State Records Center. Contact Archives Research Services staff for access information, directions, and hours.

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.

Newport News was located in Warwick County, which is now extinct. The origin of the name is uncertain but the phrase "Newportes News" appeared in documents as early as 1619 and probably commemorated Christopher Newport, who made five voyages to Virginia between 1607 and 1619. Newport News was a small settlement until late in the nineteenth century, when it became the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. It was established as a town in 1880 and incorporated as a city by act of the General Assembly in 1896 without ever having been incorporated as a town.

Scope and Content

Peninsula Automobile Association Minutes and Accounts, 1919-1921. 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.

Related Material

Warwick County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Warwick County Court Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Database found at the Library of Virginia web site.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• American Automobile Association.
• Newport News (Va.). Circuit Court.
• Peninsula Automobile Association.

Subjects:

• Automobiles--Societies, etc.

Geographical Names:

• Newport News (Va.) -- History -- 20th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Account books -- Virginia -- Newport News.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Newport News.
• Minutes -- Virginia -- Newport News.
• Organization records -- Virginia -- Newport News.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Warwick County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Adjunct Descriptive Data