Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 30, 1994 TAG: 9405300029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The grieving mother refused to leave her child's grave, so the family settled there.
Zeigler's Mill Road, formerly Virginia 673, derives its name from the business the family established, one of the first cotton mills in the county.
It's one of more than 1,600 state roads and private driveways in Franklin County that are getting names and street numbers for the first time, as part of the county's effort to enhance its emergency response system. Wooden posts already have gone up in the Hardy area, and the green signs with white letters will be mounted in coming weeks, said Lucia Burnette, coordinator of the county's 911 emergency phone system.
State route numbers will be retained, and the mail will be delivered to either address until the Postal Service notifies residents to start using only their new addresses.
The changeover to road names is being made gradually and will be completed by fall 1995.
Although there's no White Lightning Road or Thunder Court to commemorate the county's infamous moonshine, many of the names spotlight points of pride, recall stories passed down through generations and immortalize some of the county's most distinguished and beloved sons and daughters.
In assigning names, collected over three years, preference was given to historical or geographical names, and names of flowers or trees native to a certain area.
Several roads are named after mountains and hills, including Turkey Cock, Fork and Haw Patch. Some of the names were pulled from old Virginia Department of Transportation records and the historical county map of trails and roads.
Burnette said there were minor conflicts over names in some areas.
"Newer families felt like [some names] were too old-fashioned and wanted `modern names,' " she said.
Also, some of the roads are eight to 10 miles long, and a name that has significance along one stretch of the road may not apply to the rest of it.
For instance, Hardy Road, which runs out of Bedford County, actually encompasses three different state routes: Virginia 634, 676 and 636.
But many longtime residents pushed hard for historical names that will mark their unique folk tales for posterity.
Bar Foot Road is a memorial to old-time residents who plodded that area, now a private driveway, without shoes.
Years ago, someone witnessed two bucks fighting in the middle of the road over their territory. In honor of the deer, the road is now Buck Scrape Road.
Listening Hill Road was one of the names that didn't make the final cut.
Dorothy Cundiff, director of the Franklin County Retail Merchants Association, suggested it in honor of Burwell Law, who lived near Pigg River and operated a wagon train, the equivalent of a modern-day truck line.
Whenever he was expecting a wagon from his fleet, he'd walk to the top of the hill and listen for the clopping sound of the wagons.
When he died in 1844, his drivers buried him standing up, according to his instructions, so that he could hear the wagons and know they had come home safely.
"A lot of people in our area, especially people who were superstitious, were afraid to cross that hill at night because they were afraid he was going to get them," Cundiff said.
by CNB