Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 17, 1995 TAG: 9504170043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"Well, to start with, those people aren't naming an area; they're renaming it. That area is Halesford," said Francis Amos, referring to the community at the intersection of Virginia 122 and 616.
Amos, of Rocky Mount, knows his history, including the story behind the intersection's surroundings.
He was chairman of the county's Bicentennial Commission in the mid-1980s. The commission hired two writers to create a 552-page book called "Franklin County Virginia 1786-1986, A Bicentennial History." It's a book Amos knows inside and out.
Some involved with the naming process say Halesford - the name of a bridge about two miles from the intersection - is too far away and doesn't fit in with their plans.
Amos, however, said if any spot in Franklin County deserves to be called Halesford, it's right there at the intersection.
It was Halesford during the Civil War when Union troops led by Maj. William Wagner came marching through, thinking there were Confederate supplies at the Holland-Duncan house, which is a bed-and-breakfast inn today. The bluecoats found no Confederate property, according to the book, but did take some meat, corn bread and horses.
Amos said he would like to see history remembered - especially in a changing area such as Smith Mountain Lake - but "the people will make the decision they think is right."
"That's what's happened throughout history, anyway," he said. "Something is named, and then it's renamed."
An unscientific InfoLine poll conducted by the Roanoke Times & World-News shows Halesford isn't high on the list.
People submitted names that play off the word "lake": Lakecross, Lakewood, Lakeforest, Lakelin, Lakeland, Lakeford, Lakeborough, Lakehaven, Lakewest, Lakeway, Lakelure, Lake Corner.
People submitted names that have historical significance: Duncan's Corner, Country Corner, Booker's T, Booker T.'s Corner, Monument Drive, Halesford.
And people left some facetious ideas, too: Lake Collide, Yankeeland, New Jersey, Controversy Corner, Boones Mill-East.
But the big winner was plain old Smith Mountain Lake.
The telephone poll let callers choose one of the four most widely mentioned names - Duncan's Corner, Lakeville, Lakewood and Smith Mountain Lake - or they could leave their own suggestion.
A total of 186 calls were logged between Tuesday morning and midnight Thursday. Several people mailed a response or sent one by computer.
Here's the InfoLine vote count, along with the story behind some of the names:
Smith Mountain Lake - 65.
Duncan's Corner - 43. Educator William E. Duncan started Halesford Academy, a school near the intersection, around 1857.
Lakewood - 24. A name that already exists on a professional park at the lake.
Lakeville - 3. A name proposed by well-known lake developer Ron Willard.
Fifty people voted for some other name, and Halesford received only a handful of those votes.
Many callers also left comments.
Willard, who has been outspoken about the situation and was a lightning rod at one of the meetings to discuss the name, was given praise and criticism by callers.
One woman picked Lakeville, the name suggested by Willard. "That would honor all Ron Willard has done for Franklin County," she said. "No one has contributed more to development, energy and caring than this man in this century."
But others took a different view.
"Call it Ron Willardwood, since he thinks he owns that area," one man said.
Regionalism also entered into the comments.
A Burnt Chimney resident said the intersection should be called New Jersey. "That way, all the people at the lake won't have to keep saying how much better it is up in New Jersey." The lake has a sizable population of retirees from Northern states.
Jeff Borthen of Roanoke submitted the name S.M.I.L.E., or Smith Mountain International Lake Environment. "It's politically correct and all that other crap," he said.
One caller didn't pick a name, but did leave a comment:
"It's not like Franklin County doesn't have more problems to worry about other than picking the name of a road."
Charles Ellis, the Gills Creek representative on the Franklin County Board of Supervisors, has said he will appoint a committee to select a name and the boundaries of the area it will cover.
Roddy Moore, a folk historian and director of the Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College, said the committee/group discussion part of the process isn't something that has a lot of precedent.
Historically, places get names via a declaration from a single individual, he said.
"It's hard enough for two parents to name a child," he said. "I don't understand this group thing."
by CNB