Collis Potter Huntington as a Young Man, (sculpture).

Collis Potter Huntington as a Young Man, (sculpture).

Huntington, Anna Vaughn Hyatt, 1876-1973, sculptor.

Collis Potter Huntington as a Young Man, (sculpture).

1965. Dedicated Oct. 22, 1966.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: red brick.

Sculpture: approx. 76 x 41 x 60 in.; Base: approx. 39 1/4 x 58 x 76 in.

(Lower left of integral base of sculpture:) ANNA H. HUNTING(TON)/65 (Bronze plaque on front of base:) COLLIS POTTER HUNTINGTON/AS A YOUNG MAN/--/BORN OCTOBER 22, 1821, HARWINTON, CONNECTICUT/DIED AUGUST 13, 1900, "PINE KNOTT CAMP," NEW YORK/--/SCULPTURED AND PRESENTED/BY/ANNA HYATT HUNTINGTON/DEDICATED OCTOBER 22, 1966 (Plaque on side of base:) COLLIS POTTER HUNGTINGTON/FOUNDER, 1869-1881/CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY DEEP-WATER TERMINAL/--/"THIS IS A POINT SO DESIGNED AND ADAPTED BY NATURE THAT IT WILL REQUIRE/COMPARATIVELY LITTLE AT THE HANDS OF MAN TO FIT IT FOR OUR PURPOSE./THE ROADSTEAD, WELL KNOWN TO ALL MARITIME CIRCLES, IS LARGE ENOUGH/TO FLOAT THE OCEAN COMMERCE OF THE WORLD."/--/"IT'S THE BEST HALF ACRE IN THE WORLD."

(Bronze plaque on rear of base:) COLLIS POTTER HUNTINGTON/FOUNDER, 1871-1896/CITY OF NEWPORT NEWS/--/"I WAS FIRST THERE IN 1837, AND THOUGHT THEN THAT/THERE WAS NO BETTER PLACE IN THIS COUNTRY FOR/A CITY, WHICH SHOULD SOMETIME BE THE GREATEST/IN THE UNITED STATES."/--/TRIBUTE BY JOAQUIN MILLER-1897:/"TO COLLIS P. HUNTINGTON, WHO HAS DONE THE GREATER WEST AND/SOUTH MORE ENDURING GOOD THAN ANY OTHER LIVING MAN." (Plaque on side of base:) COLLIS POTTER HUNTINGTON/FOUNDER, 1886-1890/NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING AND DRY DOCK COMPANY/--/"WE SHALL BUILD GOOD SHIPS HERE, AT A PROFIT IF WE CAN,/AT A LOSS IF WE MUST, BUT ALWAYS GOOD SHIPS."/--/"I AM PARTICULARLY ANXIOUS FOR THE SAKE OF THE OLD FLAG AND WHAT/IT SHALL REPRESENT ON THE HIGH SEAS, THAT THE NEWPORT NEWS SHIPYARD/SHALL TURN OUT FOR THE NATION SPLENDID VESSELS OF WHICH THE COUNTRY/AND THE BUILDERS MAY BE PROUD." signed

Portrait of Collis Potter Huntington, depicted as a young man, sitting on a large rock, facing the James River. His proper right arm is extended with hand open, palm facing down. In his proper left hand he holds a rolled document in his lap. He has a moustache and goatee, and wears a three-piece suit, shirt with stand up collar, bow tie and boots. The back of his coat drapes the back of the rock, and his homburg hat rests on the rock on his proper right. The sculpture is mounted on an oblong, red brick base and set in a bricked plaza.

Portrait male -- Huntington, Collis Potter -- Full length

Occupation -- Industry -- Shipping

Occupation -- Transportation -- Railroad

Occupation -- Other -- Colonizer

Outdoor Sculpture -- Virginia -- Newport News

Administered by City of Newport News, Parks and Recreation, 2400 Washington Avenue, Newport News, Virginia 23607

Located 26th & West Avenue, Newport News, Virginia

Collis Potter Huntington (1821-1900) was the founder of Newport News, as well as founder of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Deep-Water Terminal. Sculpture was donated by the artist, who was the daughter-in-law of Collis Potter Huntington.

Nearby plaque reads: ANNA HYATT HUNTINGTON/1876-1973/IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF A GRACIOUS/LADY THROUGH WHOSE ARTISTIC TALENTS,/HUMANITARIAN INSTINCTS AND UNASSUMING/GENEROSITY THIS CITY AND ITS CITIZENS HAVE/BEEN IMMEASURABLY ENDOWED./WITH HER ILLUSTRIOUS HUSBAND, ARCHER/MILTON HUNTINGTON --POET--SCHOLAR AND/PATRON OF THE ARTS --SHE WAS A FOUNDER OF/THE MARINERS MUSEUM IN 1930 BEAUTIFYING ITS/SETTING WITH WORKS OF HER OWN SCULPTURE./IN 1966 SHE CREATED AND PRESENTED TO/NEWPORT NEWS THE STATUE FACING THIS TABLET/OF CITY FOUNDER COLLIS POTTER HUNTINGTON/HER FATHER-IN-LAW/ERECTED BY/THE NEWPORT NEWS HISTORICAL COMMITTEE -1973/J.W. HORNSBY, JR., MAYOR.

For further information see handbook "Newport News Historical Markers and Memorials," by Alexander Crosby Brown, 1979.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Virginia survey, 1995.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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