 New economic forces also changed the Commonwealth . Virginian James Albert <unk> invented the tobacco cigarette rolling machine in 1880 leading to new industrial scale production centered on Richmond . In 1886 , railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington founded Newport News Shipbuilding , which was responsible for building six major World War I @-@ era battleships for the U.S. Navy from 1907 – 1923 . During the war , German submarines like U @-@ 151 attacked ships outside the port . In 1926 , Dr. <unk> Goodwin , rector of Williamsburg 's Bruton Parish Church , began restoration of colonial @-@ era buildings in the historic district with financial backing of John D. Rockefeller , Jr . Though their project , like others in the state , had to contend with the Great Depression and World War II , work continued as Colonial Williamsburg became a major tourist attraction . 
