Roanoke, Virginia

Roanoke (The Star City of the South) is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The name Roanoke is said to have originated from the native American word for shell "money".

History

After the American Civil War (1861-1865), William Mahone, a civil engineer and hero of the Battle of the Crater, was the driving force in the linkage of 3 Virginia railroads to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line extending from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia in 1870. After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as a railroad builder ended in 1881 when northern financial interests took control. At the foreclosure auction, the AM&O was purchased by E.W. Clark and Co., a private banking firm in Philadelphia which controlled the Shenandoah Valley Railroad then under construction. The AM&O was renamed Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W).

Related Topics:
American Civil War - William Mahone - Civil engineer - Battle of the Crater - Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad - 1870 - 1881 - Shenandoah Valley Railroad - Norfolk and Western Railway

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Frederick J. Kimball, a civil engineer and partner in the Clark firm, headed the new line and consolidated it with the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. For the junction for the Shenandoah and the Norfolk and Western, Kimball and his board of directors selected a small Virginia village called Big Lick, on the Roanoke River. Although the grateful citizens offered to rename their town "Kimball", on his suggestion, they agreed to go with Roanoke after the river. As the N&W brought people and jobs, the Town of Roanoke quickly became an independent city in 1884. In fact, Roanoke became a city so quickly that it earned the nickname "Magic City."

Related Topics:
Frederick J. Kimball - Shenandoah Valley Railroad - Roanoke River - 1884

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Kimball, whose interest in geology was responsible for the opening of the Pocahontas coalfields in western Virginia and West Virginia, pushed N&W lines through the wilds of West Virginia, north to Columbus, Ohio and Cincinnati, Ohio, and south to Durham, North Carolina and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This gave the railroad the route structure it was to use for more than 60 years.

Related Topics:
Geology - Virginia - West Virginia - Columbus, Ohio - Cincinnati, Ohio - Durham, North Carolina - Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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The Virginian Railway (VGN), an engineering marvel of its day, was conceived and built by William Nelson Page and Henry Huttleston Rogers Following the Roanoke River, the VGN was built through the City of Roanoke early in the 20th century. It was merged with the N&W in 1959.

Related Topics:
Virginian Railway - William Nelson Page - Henry Huttleston Rogers - 1959

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The opening of the coalfields made N&W prosperous and Pocahontas bituminous coal world-famous. Transported by the N&W and neighboring Virginian Railway (VGN), it fueled half the world's navies and today stokes steel mills and power plants all over the globe. The N&W was famous for manufacturing steam locomotives in-house. It was at the Norfolk & Western's Roanoke Shops, which employed thousands of craftsmen, where decades later the famed classes A, J, and Y6 locomotives would be designed, built and maintained, made the company known industry-wide for its excellence in steam power.

Related Topics:
Bituminous coal - Steam locomotive - Roanoke Shops

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Around 1960, N&W was the last major railroad in the United States to convert from steam to diesel motive power. However, several of its famous steam engines, including J class # 611 and A class # 1218 are now on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. The steam age is also chronicled in photographs in the O. Winston Link Museum also in Roanoke.

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Today, Roanoke is famous for its Chili Cook-Off, Strawberry Festival, and the large red, white, and blue illuminated Mill Mountain Star on Mill Mountain, which is visible from many points in the city and neighboring valley. At the top of Mill Mountain is small zoo which features animals which require the cool mountaintop temperatures and atmosphere.

Related Topics:
Mill Mountain Star - Zoo

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Wrestler Tony Atlas is originally from Roanoke.

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The city's newspaper, The Roanoke Times, has been published for 120 years. In 2002, it was designated the best-read daily newspaper in the country, according to the 2002 Scarborough Report. Of 162 newspapers in top U.S. metropolitan areas, The Roanoke Times ranked first in the percentage of adults who read their daily newspaper.

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