Harry E. Atkinson was the mayor of Newport News, Virginia

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

 from July 1, 1974 to July 1, 1976. His single term in office saw the development of two major landmark buildings in the city's midtown area - the Rouse Tower office complex in 1974 and Newmarket North Mall

Newmarket North Mall

Newmarket North Mall was a mall located in Hampton, Virginia that opened in 1975. Its three anchors were Miller & Rhoads, Leggett and Sears.In 1989, Goodman Segar Hogan bought the property and began a two-year, $9 million renovation and expansion project...

 in 1975. Also completed during Atkinson's term was the first span of the four-lane James River Bridge

James River Bridge

The James River Bridge is a four-lane divided highway lift bridge across the James River in the U.S. state of Virginia. Owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation, it carries U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 258, and State Route 32 across the river near its mouth at Hampton Roads...

 that would eventually replace the original two-lane bridge.

After serving as mayor, Atkinson led a group of Newport News citizens and the Newport News Historical Commission in creating Potter's Field, a city park on the former site of the Warwick County

Warwick County, Virginia

Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...

Poor Farm.