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Durham And Charlotte Railroad

Durham and Charlotte Railroad

:This article is about the smaller railroad prior to 1981. For the present system, which includes the old one, see Norfolk Southern Railway. Norfolk Southern Railway] The Norfolk Southern Railway was the final name of a railroad running from Norfolk, Virginia southwest and west to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was acquired by the Southern Railway in 1974.

History

The Elizabeth City and Norfolk Railroad was chartered January 20, 1870, and in 1881 the line opened, running south from Berkley, Virginia, across the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River from Norfolk, via Elizabeth City to Edenton, North Carolina. On February 1, 1883 the name was changed to the Norfolk Southern Railroad, reflecting the company's ambitions to build further. It entered receivership for the first time in 1889, and was purchased April 29 and reorganized May 1891 as the Norfolk and Southern Railroad. By that time it had acquired trackage rights over the Norfolk and Western Railroad over the Elizabeth River into Norfolk. With the reorganization also came the acquisition of the Albemarle and Pantego Railroad from the John L. Roper Lumber Company, extending the line from Mackey on the other side of the Albemarle Sound from Edenton south to Belhaven on the Pungo River, a branch of the Pamlico River. On November 1, 1899 the N&S bought the Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Southern Railroad, running east from Norfolk to Virginia Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. An extension took the line north from Virginia Beach to Cape Henry in 1902, but only two years later the N&S bought the competing Chesapeake Transit Company and abandoned its own branch. The passenger rail service to the Oceanfront area was a key factor in the growth of the Town of Virginia Beach as a resort in the late 19ths and early 20th century. Also in 1902, it acquired the Roanoke Railroad and Lumber Company's Washington and Plymouth Railroad, running from Plymouth, North Carolina south to Washington, built a line from Mackey to Plymouth, and began a car ferry operation across the Albemarle Sound between Edenton and Mackey (replaced by a bridge in 1910). The W&P had been built by the lumber company in 1889 to 3 foot (914 mm) narrow gauge, became a common carrier in 1901, and was re-gauged by the N&S in 1904. The Raleigh and Eastern North Carolina Railroad was organized in 1903 and renamed the Raleigh and Pamlico Sound Railroad in 1905. In 1906 it built a line from the end of the N&S at Washington south to Bridgeton, as well as a completely separated line from Raleigh east to Zebulon. On November 24, 1906 the Norfolk and Southern Railway was formed as a consolidation of the Norfolk and Southern Railroad with the Raleigh and Pamlico Sound Railroad and several other companies:
- Virginia and Carolina Coast Railroad: built 1885 to 1902 from Suffolk, Virginia south to Edenton and from Beckford Junction (on the Suffolk-Edenton section) to Elizabeth City; originally built as the Suffolk and Carolina Railway and renamed in 1906)
- Pamlico, Oriental and Western Railway: built 1906 from New Bern (across the Neuse River from Bridgeton) east to Bayboro, including a bridge over the Neuse River that became part of the main line
- Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad (leased September 1, 1904): built 1858 from Goldsboro southeast to Morehead City, intersecting the main line at New Bern
- Beaufort and Western Railroad: built 1905 from Morehead City east to Beaufort Beaufort in 1918]] The company again entered receivership in 1908, and in 1910 reorganized as the Norfolk Southern Railroad. That same year it built a long branch from Chocowinity (also known as Marsden) on the main line south of Washington west to the isolated section to Raleigh at Zebulon (that became the main line to Charlotte via Raleigh, while the old line to New Bern became a branch). Several shorter branches also opened that year - from Bayboro south to Oriental, from Pinetown on the main line east to Bishops Cross on the line to Belhaven, and from Mackey east to Columbia (as well as a trestle across the Albemarle Sound between Mackey and Edenton). The Egypt Railroad was chartered June 14, 1890 and opened October 15, 1891 running a short distance from Colon on the Seaboard Air Line Railroad main line west to Cumnock. It was leased to the Raleigh and Western Railway, another short line continuing west from Cumnock to Harpers Crossroads, on September 6, 1893. The company entered receivership in 1907 and operations west of Cumnock were suspended in 1908. The Egypt Railroad was reorganized April 1, 1910 as the Sanford and Troy Railroad. The Durham and Charlotte Railroad was chartered March 2, 1893. On July 15, 1896 it bought the Glendon and Gulf Railroad, running from Gulf (west of Cumnock) southwest to Glendon. Some time after 1900 it bought the former Raleigh and Western Railway right-of-way and rebuilt the line from Cumnock to Gulf, and built an extension from Glendon southwest to Troy. In November 1911 the NS formed the Raleigh, Charlotte and Southern Railway as a consolidation of several smaller companies; the RC&S was merged into the NS in fall 1912. The RC&S was made up of the Sanford and Troy Railroad, Durham and Charlotte Railroad, and the following lines:
- Raleigh and Southport Railway: Raleigh south to Fayetteville
- Aberdeen and Asheboro Railroad: Aberdeen northwest to Asheboro, with a branch from Biscoe west via Troy to Mount Gilead, and several other short branches At the time, only the Raleigh and Southport Railway connected to the other NS lines. In 1914 the NS built a line from Varina on the former R&S southwest to Colon and from Mount Gilead west to Charlotte, giving it a continuous line, using the former S&T, D&C and branch of the A&A from Colon to Mount Gilead. On May 27, 1920 the NS leased the Durham and South Carolina Railroad, giving it access to Durham. The D&SC ran from Durham south to Bonsal on the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and was extended to Duncan on the NS around the time the NS leased it. Another receivership came in 1932, and in 1935 it defaulted on its lease of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, which was reincorporated November 16 of that year. Many branch lines were abandoned or sold during that period, such as the local lines in Suffolk, Virginia, which were sold to the Virginian Railway in 1940. On January 21, 1942 the company was reorganized for the last time as the Norfolk Southern Railway. On January 1, 1974 the Southern Railway bought the Norfolk Southern Railway and merged the Carolina and Northwestern Railway into it. In 1981 the Carolina and Northwestern name was brought back to free up the Norfolk Southern name for the planned merger of the Southern Railway with the Norfolk and Western Railway. The new Norfolk Southern Railway was formed in 1982. While the name had once meant that the railroad ran south from Norfolk, it was now a combination of the names of the two merged companies. Norfolk Southern still owns the main line from Gulf (near Cumnock) northeast to Plymouth. The part from Gulf west to Charlotte (as well as the branch to Aberdeen) is now the Aberdeen, Carolina and Western Railway, and the part from Edenton north to Norfolk is now the Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad. The line between Plymouth and Edenton has been abandoned.

Trivia


- At Chocowinity, North Carolina, the New Bern Branch diverges from the main line. In 1917, the management of Norfolk Southern elected to use the name "Marsden" instead of Chocowinity since the name Chocowinity was too long and cumbersome to spell out on the telegraph key. "Marsden" was derived from the name of Marsden J. Perry, a member of a New York financial group that had been backing the construction of the Norfolk Southern Railroad. He would eventually serve as president of the railroad. The railroad didn't start using the name Chocowinity until about 1970. [http://www.beaufort-county.com/sellersrr/]
- At Cape Henry, Virginia, on the Fort Story Army Base, the renovated former Norfolk Southern passenger station, built in 1902, is in use as Fort Story's Education Center.
- The former south line from Tidewater Junction in Norfolk east to Birdneck Road in Virginia Beach was under consideration for a possible light rail line in the late 1990s, but the project was defeated by Virginia Beach voters in an advisory referendum. A short portion near the oceanfront is now a bicycle and pedestrian trail.

External links


- [http://www.norfolksouthernhs.org/ Norfolk & Southern Railway Historical Society]
- [http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/NSRwy_HS/?yguid=3882678 NSRwy Yahoo Group] (dealing with the original company)

References


- [http://users.inna.net/~jaydeet/timeline.htm A Brief History of the Norfolk Southern] (includes abandonment years)
- [http://www.earlpleasants.com/search_1.asp Railroad History Database] Category:Southern Railway (US) category:Virginia railroads category:North Carolina railroads

1981

1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January-February


- January - Sarawak chamber found
- January 1 - Greece enters the EEC
- January 1 - Palau becomes self-governing
- January 4 - Sheffield police arrests Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper
- January 13 - Donna Griffiths, a schoolgirl in Pershore, Worcestershire, UK, begins a uncontrollable series of sneezes that end September 16 1983 - after 978 days
- January 16 - Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and her husband
- January 19 - United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity
- January 20 - Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter as President of the United States of America. Minutes after Reagan becomes president, Iran releases 52 American hostages that had been held captive for 444 days - Iran hostage crisis ends.
- February 4 - Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes the Prime Minister of Norway
- February 9 - Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski resigns and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski
- February 10 - A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198
- February 14 - Australia withdraws recognition of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia
- February 23 - Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies, and stops the session, where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was going to be named president of the government. The coup d'état would fail thanks to King Juan Carlos.

March-April

Juan Carlos.]]
- March 1 - Bobby Sands, an IRA member, begins hunger strike for political status in Long Kesh prison - he dies May 5, the first of ten men.
- March 6 - After 19 years hosting the CBS Evening News Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
- March 7 - Colombian guerillas execute US bible translator Chester Allen Bitterman for being a CIA agent
- March 11 - Chilean president Augusto Pinochet sworn in for an eight-year term as president.
- March 19 - Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
- March 30 - President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., whose family had connections with the vice president. Two police officers and James Brady are also wounded.
- April 11 - Riot in Brixton, South London - rioters throw petrol bombs, attack police and loot shops.
- April 12 - The first launch of a Space Shuttle: Columbia launches on the STS-1 mission.
- April 15 - The Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock resigns from cabinet accusing the Australian Prime Minister Fraser of gross disloyalty.
- April 18 - A Minor League baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning was not played until June 23rd).

May


- May - Daniel K. Ludwig abandons the Jari project in the Amazon Basin
- May 6 - A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- May 10 - In the second round of the presidential elections in France (French presidential election, 1981), François Mitterrand beats Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
- May 13 - Pope John Paul II is shot at and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman, as he entered St. Peter's Square in Rome to address a general audience. (Two days after Christmas in 1983, Pope John Paul went to the prison to meet and forgive his would-be assassin)
- May 21 - In France, socialist François Mitterrand becomes president of the Republic.
- May 22 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, imprisoned for life for 13 counts of murder
- May 25 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- May 26 - The Italian government resigns over its links to the fascist Masonic cell P-2
- May 30 - Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman assassinated in Chittagong.

June-July

Chittagong return to Buckingham Palace following their wedding watched by over 1 billion people worldwide.]]
- June 5 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (these were the first recognized cases of AIDS).
- June 6 - Seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train fall off the tracks into the River Kosi, in Bihar, India - about 800 dead
- June 7 - Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor
- June 13 - At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager Marcus Sargeant fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.
- June 22 - Hamas attacks a travel agency in Greece - two dead
- June 22 - Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr deposed
- June 29 - Morris Edwin Robert armed with a machine gun holds hostages in the FBI section in Atlanta Federal Building. After three hours the hostages are rescued - Robert is shot
- July 17 - Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby killing 114
- July 17 - Israeli bombers destroy the PLO HQ in Beirut
- July 27 - Wheel of Fortune premiers in Australia on the Seven Network.
- July 29 - Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.

August-October


- August 1 - MTV (Music Television) is launched.
- August 5 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
- August 7 - The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
- August 12 - The original IBM PC released in the United States.
- August 19 - Gulf of Sidra incident (1981). Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi sends two Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two US fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets destroyed the Libyan fighters.
- August 19 - US President Ronald Reagan appoints the first female US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.
- August 28 - South African troops invade Angola.
- August 31 - A bomb explodes at the US Army base in Ramstein, West Germany injuring 20 people.
- September 4 - An explosion at a mine in Zalizin, Czechoslovakia - 65 dead.
- September 10 - Picasso's painting "Guernica" is moved from New York to Madrid.
- September 15 - The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world, at 150 years old, when it operates under its own power outside Washington, DC.
- September 18 - France abolishes capital punishment.
- October 6 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a parade by army members who were part of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, who opposed his negotiations with Israel.
- October 10 - The Ministry for Education of Japan issues the jōyō kanji.
- October 14 - Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt one week after Anwar Sadat was assassinated.
- October 21 - Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece.

November-December

Prime Minister of Greece
- November 1 - Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom
- November 13 - The first Friday the 13th event held by motorcyclists in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada
- November 23 - Iran-Contra scandal: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua
- November 25-November 26 - Group of mercenaries lead by Mike Hoare take over Mahe airport in the Seychelles in a coup attempt. Most of the mercenaries escape by a commandeered Air India passenger jet, six are later arrested
- November 30 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on Thursday, December 17)
- December 1 - A Yugoslavian DC-9 crashes into a mountain while approaching Ajaccio Airport in Corsica killing 178
- December 4 - South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized outside South Africa)
- December 11 - El Mozote massacre - in El Salvador, army units kill 900 civilians
- December 13 - Wojciech Jaruzelski declares the state of martial law in Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity
- December 15 - A car bomb destroys the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 61 people. This is the first modern suicide bombing. Syrian intelligence is blamed.
- December 20 - The Penlee lifeboat disaster off the coast of South-West Cornwall
- December 28 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born (Norfolk, Virginia)

unknown dates


- Millennium Renactment of the translation of Saint Edward the Martyr's relics from Wareham to Shaftesbury
- Mauritania abolishes the institution of slavery.
- James Tobin wins the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
- Mike Cooley, Bill Mollison and Patrick van Rensburg / Education with Production win the Right Livelihood Award
- The counter-culture wire service LNS ceases operations.
- Public funding of election Campaigns introduced in New South Wales, Australia
- The State Council of the People's Republic of China listed the four cities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guilin) as where the protection of historical and cultural heritage as well as natural scenery should be treated as a prior project.
- Cuba suffers a major outbreak of Dengue hemorrhagic fever, with 344 203 cases. [http://w3.whosea.org/en/Section10/Section332/Section521_2454.htm]
- Computer and Video Games (magazine) begins publication.

Births

January-March


- January 1 - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
- January 3 - Eli Manning, American football player
- January 6 - Mike Jones, American rapper
- January 12 - Quentin Griffin, American football player
- January 15 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- January 15 - Howie Day, American singer and songwriter
- January 17 - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
- January 20 - Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- January 20 - Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born footballer
- January 21 - Dany Heatley, German-born hockey player
- January 22 - Chantelle Anderson, American basketball player
- January 22 - Willa Ford, American singer, television hostess, and actress
- January 22 - Beverley Mitchell, American actress
- January 25 - Alicia Keys, American musician
- January 28 - Elijah Wood, American actor
- January 31 - Justin Timberlake, American musician
- February 3 - Alisa Reyes, American actress
- February 10 - Natasha St-Pier, Canadian singer
- February 11 - Kelly Rowland, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- February 14 - Erin Torpey, American actress
- February 15 - Jenna Morasca, American television personality
- February 17 - Paris Hilton, American actress and heiress
- February 18 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
- February 22 - Jeanette Biedermann, German singer and actress
- February 24 - Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
- February 27 - Josh Groban, American singer
- March 1 -Ana Hickmann, Brazilian model
- March 2 - Bryce Howard, American actress
- March 3 - Lil' Flip, American rapper
- March 9 - Antonio Bryant, American football player
- March 11 - David Anders, American actor
- March 11 - Lee Evans, American football player
- March 11 - LeToya Luckett, American musician (Destiny's Child)
- March 16 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
- March 28 - Julia Stiles, American actress

April-June


- April 1 - Hannah Spearritt, British singer (S Club 7)
- April 2 - Bethany Joy Lenz, American actress and singer
- April 10 - Michael Pitt, American actor
- April 14 - Mary Castro, American model and actress
- April 17 - Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer
- April 19 - Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor
- April 19 - Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress
- April 19 - Troy Polamalu, American football player
- April 22 - Ken Dorsey, American football player
- April 28 - Jessica Alba, American actress
- May 5 - Craig David, British singer
- May 5 - Danielle Fishel, American actress
- May 11 - Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
- May 13 - Sunny Leone, Canadian entertainer
- May 15 - Jamie-Lynn DiScala, American actress
- May 19 - Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
- May 20 - Sean Conlon, English musician (5ive)
- May 20 - Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
- June 1 - Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- June 7 - Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
- June 7 - Larisa Oleynik, American actress
- June 9 - Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress
- June 13 - Christopher Robert Evans, American actor
- June 12 - Adriana Lima, Brazilian model
- June 21 - Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist (The Killers)

July-September


- July 8 - Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- July 23 - Michelle Williams, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- July 24 - Summer Glau, American actress (Firefly)
- August 4 - Marques Houston, American singer and actor
- August 5 - Carl Crawford, baseball player
- August 5 - Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer and actress
- August 8 - Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer and songwriter
- August 8 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- August 8 - Meagan Good, American actress
- August 16 - Taylor Rain, American actress
- August 24 - Chad Michael Murray, American actor
- August 25 - Rachel Bilson, American actress
- September 1 - Clinton Portis, American football player
- September 4 - Beyoncé Knowles, American singer (Destiny's Child) and actress
- September 8 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
- September 16 - Alexis Bledel, American actress
- September 21 - Nicole Richie, American actress
- September 22 - Rocco Baldelli, baseball player
- September 26 - Christina Milian, Afro-Cuban singer, songwriter and musician
- September 26 - Serena Williams, American tennis player
- September 30 - Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast

October-December


- October 1 - Jamelia, British singer
- October 3 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Swedish footballer
- October 11 - Beau Brady, Australian actor
- October 15 - Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
- October 20 - Willis McGahee, American football player
- October 22 - Michael Fishman, American actor
- October 28 - Milan Baros, Czech footballer
- October 29 - Amanda Beard, American swimmer
- October 30 - Ivanka Trump, American model
- October 31 - Irina Denezhkina, Russian writer
- October 31 - Frank Iero, American guitarist (My Chemical Romance)
- November 1 - LaTavia Roberson, American musician (Destiny's Child)
- November 3 - Jackie Gayda, American professional wrestler
- November 4 - Vince Wilfork, American football player
- November 8 - Azura Skye, American actress
- November 11 - Natalie Glebova, Canadian pageant winner (2005 Miss Universe)
- November 26 - Natasha Bedingfield, British singer
- November 26 - Aurora Snow, American actress
- December 2 - Britney Spears, American singer
- December 3 - Brian Bonsall, American actor
- December 4 - Lila McCann, American singer
- December 7 - Ben Adams, British singer (a1)
- December 13 - Amy Lee, American singer (Evanescence)
- December 15 - Kyle McKain, American Club DJ
- December 15 - Thomas Herrion, American football player (d. 2005)
- December 21 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
- December 27 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
- December 28 - Elizabeth Jordan Carr, first American test-tube baby
- December 28 - Sienna Miller, American-born actress
- December 29 - Angela Via, American singer
- December 30 - Haley Paige, American actress

Deaths


- January 5 - Harold C. Urey, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- January 5 - Lanza del Vasto, Italian-born philosopher, poet, and activist (b. 1901)
- January 6 - A.J. Cronin, Scottish novelist (b. 1896)
- January 10 - Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
- January 23 - Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- February 1 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
- February 9 - Bill Haley, American musician (b. 1925)
- February 15 - Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
- February 20 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor, socialite (b. 1904)
- February 26 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
- March 6 - George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
- March 7 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (b. 1914)
- March 9 - Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)
- April 7 - Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
- April 12 - Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
- April 27 - John Aspinwall Roosevelt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
- May 9 - Nelson Algren, American author (b.1909)
- May 11 - Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- May 11 - Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
- May 18 - William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)
- June 1 - Carl Vinson, U.S. Congressman (b. 1883)
- June 19 - Lotte Reiniger, German-born silhouette animator (b. 1899)
- June 28 - Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)
- August 14 - Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
- September 1 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (b. 1905)
- September 2 - Dame Enid Lyons, Australia politician (b. 1897)
- September 8 - Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)
- September 8 - Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- September 9 - Sir Robert (Bob) Askin, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1907)
- September 12 - Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
- October 2 - Harry Golden, American journalist (b. 1902)
- October 6 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1918)
- October 16 - Stanley Clements, American actor (b. 1926)
- October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
- November 7 - Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
- November 22 - Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
- November 29 - Natalie Wood, American actress (drowned) (b. 1938)
- December 28 - Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur Leonard Schawlow, Kai M. Siegbahn
- Chemistry - Kenichi Fukui, Roald Hoffmann
- Medicine - Roger W. Sperry, David H. Hubel, Torsten N. Wiesel
- Literature - Elias Canetti
- Peace - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Templeton Prize


- Dame Cicely Saunders Category:1981 als:1981 ko:1981년 ja:1981年 simple:1981 th:พ.ศ. 2524

Norfolk Southern Railway

:This article is about the present railroad formed in 1990. For the former railroad, a small part of the new one, see Norfolk Southern Railway (former). The Norfolk Southern Railway , usually called Norfolk Southern, is a major Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. The company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada. The most common commodity hauled on the railroad is coal from mines in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky. The railroad also offers an extensive intermodal network in eastern North America. The current system was planned in 1982 with the formation of the Norfolk Southern Corporation, merged on December 31, 1990 with the lease of the Norfolk and Western Railway by the renamed Southern Railway, and augmented in 1998 with the acquisition of over half of Conrail.

History of the railroad

Norfolk Southern was created from predecessor railroads which date back to the early portion of the 19th century. Prior to current times, the three main branches of the current corporate family tree were for many years themselves systems: Norfolk and Western, formed in 1881, Southern Railway System in 1894, and Conrail, formed much later, in 1976. Each of these grew from many smaller local and regional lines as the industry grew. The South Carolina Canal and Rail Road, the earliest predecessor line, was chartered in December 1827 and ran the nation's first regularly scheduled passenger train on December 25, 1830. The Richmond and Danville Railroad, formed in 1847, became a major portion of the Southern Railway in 1894. NS was created in 1982 from the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and the Southern Railway Company. An earlier company, also named the Norfolk Southern Railway, serving primarily North Carolina and the southeastern tip of Virginia, had been acquired by the Southern Railway in 1974. The older company was the namesake for the 1982 combination. Headquarters for the newly established Norfolk Southern were established in Norfolk, Virginia. The 1982 combination of the profitable Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway was done to compete in the eastern United States with the Chessie System-Seaboard Coast Line merger which had been approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1980, resulting in formation of CSX Transportation. On June 23, 1997, Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation filed a joint application with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for authority to purchase, divide and operate the assets of the 11,000-mile Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), created in 1976 by bringing together several ailing northeastern railway systems into a government-owned corporation. On June 6, 1998, the STB approved the Norfolk Southern-CSX application and set Aug. 22, 1998, as the effective date of its decision. Norfolk Southern acquired 58% of Conrail’s assets (CSX got the remaining 42%). As a result of the transaction, Norfolk Southern's rail operations grew to include some 7,200 miles of the Conrail system (predominantly the former PRR). Norfolk Southern began operating its trains on its portion of the Conrail network on June 1, 1999.

Major businesses

The railroad is a large exporter of West Virginia bituminous coal, transported on portions of the well-engineered former Virginian Railway and the famous former Norfolk and Western's double-tracked line in Eastern Virginia to its Lambert's Point coal transload facility on Hampton Roads at Norfolk, Virginia. Coal transported by NS is thus exported to steel mills and power plants around the world. The company is also a major transporter of auto parts and completed vehicles. It operates intermodal container and TOFC (trailer on flat car) trains, some in conjunction with other railroads. Norfolk Southern was the first railway to employ roadrailers, which are highway truck trailers with interchangeable wheel sets. According to Norfolk Southern’s 2003 Annual Report to Investors, at the end of 2003, the Norfolk Southern Railway had more than 28,160 employees, 3,468 locomotives, and 101,095 freight cars. At the end of 2003, the transport of coal, coke and iron ore made up 23% of the total amount of traffic hauled by Norfolk Southern. Intermodal containers made up 19% of the total; autoracks 14%; chemical tankers 12%; metals, construction materials, agriculture commodities, and consumer products 11%; paper, clay, and forest products 10%.

Track network and facilities

Largely an eastern United States railway, the Norfolk Southern directly owns and operates 21,500 miles of track in 21 states: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. In addition, Norfolk Southern owns track in Washington D.C. and the Canadian province of Ontario. Furthermore, Norfolk Southern has rights to operate its trains with its own crews on competing railroads' tracks. These haulage rights permit Norfolk Southern to operate as far west as Dallas, Texas, as far north as Waterville, Maine, and as far south as Miami, Florida. NS locomotives also occasonally operate on competitors' tracks throughout the United States and Canada due to the practice of locomotive leasing and sharing undertaken by the Class I railroads. Not including second, third and fourth main line trackage, yard trackage, and siding trackage, the Norfolk Southern directly operates some 21,500 miles (34,601 kilometers) of track. When the additional tracks are counted, however, the amount of track the Norfolk Southern Railway has direct control over rises to over 38,000 miles (61,155 kilometers). The company has 25 major rail classification yards, located in: Allentown, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Bellevue, Ohio; Birmingham, Alabama; Bluefield, West Virginia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Conway, Pennsylvania; Decatur, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Elkhart, Indiana; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Kansas City, Missouri; Knoxville, Tennessee; Linwood, North Carolina; Louisville, Kentucky; Macon, Georgia; Norfolk, Virginia; Roanoke, Virginia; Sheffield, Alabama; and St. Louis, Missouri. Six major locomotive shops are located in Altoona, Pennsylvania; Bellevue, Ohio; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Conway, Pennsylvania; Enola, Pennsylvania; and Roanoke, Virginia.

Locomotives

Norfolk Southern is currently still buying DC traction diesel locomotives. In fact the only AC traction diesels on their roster are EMD SD80MACs which all were inherited from Conrail. EMD SD80MAC Norfolk Southern's GE Dash-9 locomotives are often called "catfish" by railfans, as the stripes are said to look like catfish whiskers. The locomotive numbered 4610, a GM-EMD GP59, is painted in predecessor Southern Railway colors of green and white with gold trim and is a railfan's favorite. The work was done at the Debutts Yard in Chattanooga, Tennessee during the summer of 1994 and she received a repaint in the summer of 2004. Virginian Railway enthusiasts are hoping that Norfolk Southern will paint another commemorative locomotive in VGN colors and livery for the upcoming centennial of that NS predecessor which will occur in 2007. The current paint scheme for NS is black and white.

Reporting Marks

Railroads use initials as reporting marks, a universal system intended to help keep track of rolling stock and financial transactions between railroads. Although it has been widely known as simply Norfolk Southern since 1982, the corporate structure and reporting marks are more complicated. In 1990, Southern Railway Company was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway Co. Its Norfolk and Western Railway company was merged into the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1997. In 1999, when most of Conrail's ex-Pennsylvania Railroad trackage was sold to the Norfolk Southern Railway, the Pennsylvania Railway Lines was created, and PRR reporting marks used on the former Conrail motive power and rolling stock.

List of reporting marks


- AGS - Alabama Great Southern Railroad
- CG sometimes CoG - Central of Georgia Railway
- CNTP - Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNO&TP)
- GANO - Georgia Northern Railway
- NKP - Nickel Plate Road
- PRR - Pennsylvania Railroad
- NS - Norfolk Southern
- NW - Norfolk and Western Railway
- SOU - Southern Railway
- TAG - Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway
- VGN - Virginian Railway
- WAB - Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad

See also


- List of Norfolk Southern predecessor railroads
- List of United States railroads
- List of Florida railroads
- List of Georgia railroads
- List of Iowa railroads
- List of Mississippi railroads
- List of New Jersey railroads
- List of Washington, DC railroads

External links


- [http://www.nscorp.com Official Norfolk Southern company website], including a [http://www.nscorp.com/nscorp/application?pageid=Doing%20Business&category=Doing%20Business&contentId=english/nscorp/doing_business/none2/system_map.html system map]
- [http://www.ns-promos.com/ Norfolk Southern Company Store]
- [http://www.railserve.com/railnews/norfolksouthern_news.html Norfolk Southern News]
- [http://nspics.railfan.net/ Norfolk Southern Photo Archive]

History


- [http://www.nwhs.org/ Norfolk & Western Historical Society] covers Norfolk & Western and Virginian Railway history
- [http://www.norfolksouthernhs.org/ Norfolk & Southern Historical Society ] covers original railway from Norfolk, VA to Charlotte, NC
- [http://www.srha.net/ Southern Railway Historical Association] covers Southern Railway history
- [http://www.trainweb.org/chsi/chsi.html Conrail Historical Society] covers Conrail history
- [http://www.vmt.org/ Virginia Museum of Transportation ] displays famous N & W steam locomotives, located in Roanoke, VA
- [http://www.virginiasampler.com/virginian_railway_authors.htm listing of Virginian Railway authors and their works]
- [http://www.virginiasampler.com/virginian-railway-mullens.htm Mullens West Virginia Caboose Museum]a community project with photos
- [http://www.club-e-stores.com/Caboose/VGNcaboose_342-3.htm Victoria Virginia's new home for Virginian railway Caboose 342] a community project with photos
- [http://www.club-e-stores.com/Caboose/caboose64_lynchburg.htm Lynchburg Virginia's project to save the oldest extant Virginian Railway Caboose # 64] a community project with photos
- [http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Roanoke/NR_Roanoke_VirginianRailwayStation_128-5461_text.pdf preserving the Virginian Railway Passenger Station at Roanoke Virginia] a community project with photos requiring pdf file viewer

Events


- [http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts/ Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts Yahoo Group] non-profit group of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and railfans
- [http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/southern_railway/ Southern Railway Yahoo Group] a Yahoo group for former employees, railfans and modelers of the Southern Railway
- [http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Norfolk_Southern/ Norfolk Southern Yahoo Group] a Yahoo group for current happenings of Norfolk Southern Railway
- [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/norfolk-western-rr/ Norfolk Western RR Yahoo Group] a Yahoo group for historical followers and modelers of the Norfolk & Western Railway

Data


- [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/11/11084.html Yahoo! - Norfolk Southern Corporation Company Profile]



Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is a city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. It is an independent city, and therefore not included in any county. Norfolk is one of Virginia's largest cities; as of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 234,403. However, a recent 2004 census shows that the city's population has since risen to 237,835. Norfolk is located on the Elizabeth River, in Hampton Roads, a large natural harbor. It is a part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA. The city has a long history as a strategic military and transportation point. Norfolk is home to both the Norfolk Naval Base, the world's largest naval base, and the Norfolk Southern Railway, one of North America's principal Class I railroads. It has many miles of riverfront and bayfront property, and is linked with its neighbors through an extensive network of Interstate highways, bridges, tunnels, and bridge-tunnel complexes. Since the 1970s, the downtown area and waterfront has undergone substantial revitalization. It is home to the Norfolk Tides, the top International League affiliate of the New York Mets, and the Norfolk Admirals, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.

History

The site of what is now Norfolk was originally the Chesipean Indian town Skicoak. (The Chesipeans had been destroyed by Powhatan by the time of the arrival of the first English settlers, who, in 1585, settled on Roanoke Island in modern-day North Carolina. In 1591, the colony of Roanoke disappeared without a trace.) The city was laid out in 1682 and incorporated in 1845. It became an independent city from Norfolk County in 1871. On New Year's Day, 1776 the royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore shelled the city of Norfolk. (A cannonball from Dunmore's seige may be viewed today in the wall of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.) Dunmore's forces had been defeated at the Battle of Great Bridge and he was seeking to take control of the rebellious colony. The damage from the shells and fire destroyed 800 buildings, almost two-thirds of the city. Colonists, essentially completing the destruction of the city, later destroyed another 400 buildings as part of a scorched earth policy. In 1855, the city suffered an epidemic of yellow fever which killed 1 of every 3 citizens. In 1858, the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad built by William Mahone was completed to Petersburg, where major connections were made with railroads to points north, west, and south. During the US Civil War, in 1862, the Battle of Hampton Roads between the ironclads Monitor and Merrimac was fought off Norfolk. Early in the war, Mahone commanded the city's defenses during the period of Confederate occupation which ended in May, 1862. In the late 19th century, the Norfolk and Western Railway established the community as a major coal export port and built a large transloading facility at Lambert's Point. The year 1907 brought the Virginian Railway and the Jamestown Exposition to Sewell's Point. The large naval review at the Exposition demonstrated the favorable location, laying the groundwork for the Norfolk Navy Base which was built there beginning in 1917. The city limits were expanded in 1923 to include Sewell's Point, Willoughby Spit, and Ocean View, adding the Navy Base and miles of beach property fronting on Hampton Roads and the Chesapeake Bay. Ward's Corner, then just outside Norfolk, became the first non-downtown shopping district in the country. Today, Norfolk is experiencing a great deal of urban renewal. Beginning in the late 1970s, mall-developer James W. Rouse developed Waterside in downtown Norfolk, a festival marketplace concept which helped transform a formerly seedy harbor area into a major catalyst for other redevelopment. Downtown Norfolk is clean, attractive and growing quickly. The Ghent community has become popular with artistic types and yuppies. Many other areas of Norfolk are being revitalized, including Ocean View and East Beach, both on the Chesapeake Bay.

Norfolk features

Norfolk is a major military center. With Portsmouth (directly across the Elizabeth River), it forms an extensive naval complex. The headquarters of the 5th Naval District, the Atlantic Fleet, the 2nd Fleet, and the Supreme Allied Command are at Sewell's Point. The Norfolk Navy Base is the largest naval base in the United States and includes a naval air station and other facilities. Several vessels of the Navy have been named USS Norfolk after the city. General Douglas MacArthur is buried in the city; there is a small museum for him, and a major shopping mall across the street from his burial site is named for him. The city is home to Old Dominion University, Eastern Virginia Medical School and Norfolk State University(fifth largest black university in America); Virginia Wesleyan College, a private liberal arts college,lies within Norfolk City limits. The city's public school system comprises 5 high schools, 8 middle schools, 34 elementary schools, and 9 special-purpose/preschools. Norfolk Public Schools recently received a 2005 National Academic Award for having one of the most outstanding public school systems in the nation. Norfolk Academy, founded in 1728, is the city's oldest private school. Norfolk Southern Corporation, a Fortune 500 company and fourth largest railroad line in America has its headquarters in downtown Norfolk. The international headquarters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are located on the city's waterfront just to the west of downtown. Waterside is a popular festival marketplace attraction.

Pronunciation

Many longtime residents of Norfolk and Hampton Roads generally pronounce the city's name (IPA) , while others in the state use the pronunciation . The "L" in Norfolk is generally only pronounced by those from other locales and is considered incorrect by most people from the region. Similar pronunciation variations are found in the names of other Hampton Roads cities, such as Portsmouth and Suffolk.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 249.4 km² (96.3 mi²). 139.2 km² (53.7 mi²) of it is land and 110.3 km² (42.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 44.22% water. In addition to extensive riverfront property, Norfolk has miles of bayfront resort property and beaches in the Willoughby Spit and Ocean View communities.

Demographics

Ocean View, Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia from space, July 1996. Norfolk is located in the upper right quadrant.]] As of the census of 2000, there are 234,403 people, 86,210 households, and 51,898 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,684.4/km² (4,362.8/mi²). There are 94,416 housing units at an average density of 678.5/km² (1,757.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 48.36% White, 44.11% African American, 0.46% Native American, 2.81% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 1.67% from other races, and 2.48% from two or more races. 3.80% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 86,210 households out of which 30.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.9% are married couples living together, 18.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% are non-families. 30.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.45 and the average family size is 3.07. The age distribution is 24.0% under the age of 18, 18.2% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 16.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100 females there are 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 104.8 males. The median income for a household in the city is $31,815, and the median income for a family is $36,891. Males have a median income of $25,848 versus $21,907 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,372. 19.4% of the population and 15.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 27.9% of those under the age of 18 and 13.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Transportation

Norfolk is linked with its neighbors through an extensive network of arterial and Interstate highways, bridges, tunnels, and bridge-tunnel complexes, notably the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel which enters Norfolk at Willoughby Spit. The major east-west routes are Interstate 64, U.S. Highway 58 and U.S. Highway 460. The major north-south routes are U.S. Highway 13 and U.S. Highway 17. An extensive transit bus system and paratransit services are provided by Hampton Roads Transit, a regional public transport system headquartered in Norfolk. A light rail service is in planning stages. Norfolk is served by Amtrak via connecting bus with the railroad line across Hampton Roads which terminates at Newport News, and runs west along the Virginia Peninsula to Richmond. A high speed rail connection at Richmond to both the Northeast Corridor and the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor are also under study. Norfolk and the rest of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area (including Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Williamsburg and Poquoson, Virginia) are served by Norfolk International Airport and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.

Trivia


- The Norfolk Naval Shipyard or "Norfolk Navy Yard" is in Portsmouth, Virginia. They could not name it the "Portsmouth Naval Shipyard," because there was already one of those in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
- South Norfolk is a community in Chesapeake.
- West Norfolk is a community in Portsmouth, as is Port Norfolk.

Sister Cities

Norfolk has five sister cities, as designated by [http://www.sister-cities.org/ Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)]: Kaliningrad (Russia), Kitakyushu, Fukuoka (Japan), Norfolk County/Norwich (United Kingdom), Toulon (France), and Wilhelmshaven, Niedersachsen (Germany).

See also


- List of famous people from Hampton Roads

External links


- [http://www.norfolk.gov/ City of Norfolk]
- [http://www.norfolkvisitor.com/ Visitor's Guide]
- [http://www.norfolkcvb.com/ Norfolk Convention and Visitor's Bureau] Category:Cities in Virginia Category:Norfolk, Virginia ja:ノーフォーク (バージニア州)

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte is the most populous city in North Carolina and the 20th most populous in the United States. Nicknamed the Queen City, Charlotte is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. Charlotte is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation and is also the second-largest banking center in the country, trailing only New York City in terms of headquartered assets. A resident of Charlotte is referred to as a Charlottean (shar-la-TEE-uhn).

History

Charlotte was founded in the mid-18th century at the intersection of two Indian trading paths, one of which ran north-south Great Wagon Road, and is followed closely today by U.S. Route 21, and a second that ran east-west along what is now modern-day Trade Street. In the early part of the 18th century, the Great Wagon Road led settlers of Scots-Irish and German descent from Pennsylvania into the Carolina foothills. In 1755, early settler Thomas Polk built a home at the crossroads of an Indian trading path and the Great Wagon Road, which became the village of Charlotte Town, incorporated in 1768. The crossroads, perched atop a long rise in the piedmont landscape, is the heart of modern Uptown Charlotte. The trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road was named Tryon Street, in honor of William Tryon, a royal governor of colonial North Carolina. The intersection of Trade and Tryon is known as The Square. The village established by Polk, uncle of United States President James K. Polk, was named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the German wife of British King George III. The loyalty to King George and his consort was short-lived, however. On May 20, 1775, townsmen allegedly signed a proclamation that later became known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. A copy was sent, though never officially presented, to the Continental Congress a year later. Though Thomas Jefferson would deny having borrowed content from the Mecklenburg declaration, his 1776 Declaration of Independence featured language similar to the Charlotte document (today there is no generally accepted historic proof of the so-called Meck-Dec, and many doubt it ever existed, yet the date of the Declaration appears on the North Carolina state flag). Eleven days later the same 27 townsmen met to create and endorse the Mecklenburg Resolves, a set of laws to govern the newly independent town. Charlotte played a critical role during the Revolutionary War. It was a site of encampment for both the American and British main armies, and during a series of skirmishes between British troops and feisty Charlotteans the village earned the lasting nickname "Hornets Nest" from a frustrated Lord General Cornwallis. Charlotte was an ideological hotbed of revolutionary sentiment, a legacy that endures today in the nomenclature of such landmarks as Independence Boulevard, Independence High School, Freedom Park and Freedom Drive. In 1799, 12-year-old Conrad Reed went fishing one spring morning and brought home a rock weighing about 17 pounds, which the family used as a doorstop for three years before it was recognized by a jeweller as gold. It was the first verified find of gold in the fledgling United States. The nation's original gold rush was on, and many veins of gold were subsequently found in the area. The Reed Gold Mine was the nation's first, and it operated until 1912. Uptown Charlotte is literally and figuratively built on gold mines. Charlotte's history as a financial center is extensive. In 1837 the U.S. Congress established a branch U.S. Mint here because of the gold deposits found in the area. The Charlotte mint was active until 1861, when Confederate forces seized the mint facility at the outbreak of the Civil War. The mint was not reopened at the end of the war, but the building survives today, albeit in a different location, and now houses the Mint Museum of Art. The city's modern-day banking industry achieved prominence in the 1970s, largely under the leadership of financier Hugh McColl. McColl transformed North Carolina National Bank (NCNB) into a formidable national player that, through a series of aggressive acquisitions, would eventually become Bank of America. Another hometown bank, First Union, experienced similar growth, and is now known as Wachovia. Today, Charlotte is the second largest banking center in the country behind New York City, a statistic frequently touted by city advocates. (In his 1996 book "Dixie Rising," writer Peter Applebome described Charlotte as "home to the purest strain ever discovered of the Southern booster gene.") Charlotte's penchant for looking ahead -- a drive for economic development that kicked into particularly high gear during the mid-20th century -- has created something of a historical apathy in the city. Most traces of antebellum Charlotte are long gone, and preservationists often struggle to maintain landmarks in the face of modern-minded boosters, a key reason Charlotte is often regarded as a "new" American city despite the fact it is actually one of the oldest of the nation's larger metropolises. Famous natives of Charlotte include evangelist Billy Graham, pop music stars K-Ci and JoJo of Jodeci, actor Randolph Scott, U.S. president James K. Polk, independent filmmaker Ross McElwee, humorist Rich Hall, artist Romare Bearden, actress Berlinda Tolbert (of The Jeffersons) and Emmy-nominated actress Sharon Lawrence ("NYPD Blue"). Novelist Carson McCullers wrote her best-known work, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, while a resident of the city.

Geography and climate

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 242.9 square miles (629 square kilometers). Out of that, 242.3 sq. mi. (627.5 sq. km.) of it is land and 0.6 sq. mi. (1.6 sq. km.) of