William Graham Claytor (December 20, 1886 – February 28, 1971), of Roanoke, Virginia, was the vice president of Appalachian Power Company, an electric utility service.
He is best remembered for supervising the construction of a dam and creation of a 4,500 acre (18 km²), 21 mile (34 km) long lake on the New River in Pulaski County, a hydroelectric project completed in 1939. The resultant Claytor Lake and surrounding Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia are named for him.
Claytor married Gertrude Harris Boatwright, a lyric poet who published two collections of her poems. Two of their three sons became well-known transportation administrators who led several large American railroads:
- W. Graham Claytor Jr. (1912–1994) headed the Southern Railway and later Amtrak.
- Robert B. Claytor (1922–1993) was president of the Norfolk and Western Railway, and the first president of the new Norfolk Southern when it was created in 1982.
"The Claytor Brothers: Virginians Building America's Railroad" is a semi-permanent exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.
Famous quotes containing the word graham:
“Scatter my ashes, strew them in the air:
Lord since thou know’st where all these atoms are,
I’m hopeful thou’lt recover once my dust,
And confident thou’lt raise me with the just.”
—James Graham Marquess of Montrose (1612–1650)