In his 1897 two-volume work "Old Virginia and her Neighbors," American historian John Fiske writes:... several old maps where the name is given as Newport Ness, being the mariner's way of saying Newport Point. The fact that the name formerly appeared as "Newport's News" is verified by numerous early documents and maps, and by local tradition. The change to Newport News came about through usage; by 1851 the Post Office Department sanctioned "New Port News" (written as three words) as the name of the first post office. In 1866 it approved the name as "Newport News", the current form.