Homer L. Ferguson

He was at the Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland, 1895–1896; at the Navy Yard, Portland, Oregon, 1896–1899; the Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 1899–1900; at the Bath Iron Works, in Bath, Maine as Superintending Naval Constructor, 1900–1902; the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Newport News, Virginia, 1902–1904; and with the Bureau of Construction and Repair.

During the next ten years, as Superintendent and later as general manager, he not only built up the physical property of the plant and improved methods of operation, but strengthened the personnel chiefly by the development of the young men in the organization.

On May 7, 1915, shipyard president Albert L. Hopkins was traveling to England on the RMS Lusitania when he died after the ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat[2] off Queenstown on the Irish coast.

As war clouds loomed over the U.S. in 1917, Ferguson had a major role in the development of Hilton Village, located just northwest of the shipyard.

With preliminary designs in hand and with the shipyard's offer to purchase land for the project, Ferguson was able to secure a $1.2 million appropriation to begin construction immediately.

After the war, in 1922, Henry E. Huntington, who had a close relationship with Ferguson, acquired it from the government, and helped facilitate the sale of the homes to shipyard employees and other local residents.

[5][6] Ferguson and his wife, the former Eliza Anderson Skinner, raised five children and were active in many civic affairs in Newport News and Warwick County.