Naming Stations
Otelia Mahone became a well-known character of sorts in her own right. Popular legend has it that Otelia and William Mahone traveled along the newly completed railroad naming stations from Ivanhoe, a book she was reading by Sir Walter Scott. From Scott's historical Scottish novels, she chose the place names of Windsor, Waverly and Wakefield. She tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of Ivor, a small Southampton County town.
No one seems to know how Zuni, a station located between several of the others, was named. However, when they reached a location in Prince George County not far from the end of the line in Petersburg, apparently the couple could not agree. It is said that they invented a name based upon their "dispute", and that is how Disputanta was named. In 1858, the railroad was completed and William Mahone was named its president in 1860.
Read more about this topic: Norfolk And Petersburg Railroad
Famous quotes containing the words naming and/or stations:
“Husband,
who am I to reject the naming of foods
in a time of famine?”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I can’t quite define my aversion to asking questions of strangers. From snatches of family battles which I have heard drifting up from railway stations and street corners, I gather that there are a great many men who share my dislike for it, as well as an equal number of women who ... believe it to be the solution to most of this world’s problems.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)