#3 Posting of the History of Company Shops. But then came a development which many had feared would bring the end of the town. In 1886 it was announced that the railroad company was going to move its shop operations to Manchester, VA. The railroad shops and office here were closed. The town could have collapsed had it not been for some new and small businesses in the town. The Burlington Coffin Company was two years old, and it was providing jobs for many in the area. In addition, there were three relatively small cotton mills in production, and on these mills the community would be dependent for the future. An immediate problem with the railroad gone was a new name. People here felt that Company Shops was no longer a proper name for the town. In February 1887, a meeting was held to select the name. and a committee of seven was chosen to make the choice. The group included Dr. B.A. SELLARS, Dr R.A. FREEMAN, Capt. James A. TURRENTINE, Joseph A. HOLT, J.A. McCAULEY, W.A. FOGLEMAN, and W.A. ERWIN. They rejected names such as HOLTSVILLE and CAROLINADELPHIA for BURLINGTON, but no one is certain as to how it was chosen. There are several stories. One was taken from the postal guide, but another says that it was named for a bull which roamed the streets of the town, a bull which had been purchased by someone in Burlington, VT. Regardless of how the name came about, it was chosen in February 1887, and on February 14, 1893, the town was officially incorporated. It was in 1890 that the railroad shops were reopened here for a short time, but they later were moved to Spencer, NC and after 1897, the railroad era was over in Burlington. For the next several decades, the story here was textiles, Aurora Cotton Mills was beginning then, and others were to follow. The sons of E.M. HOLT and other family members were spreading the HOLT empire which had begun at Alamance while our county was still a part of Orange County. To be continued with #4....The Mill Villages Sources for this History of Company Shops: Orange and Alamance County Deeds "North Carolina National", (weekly newspaper) N.C. Archives "Burlington Times News" March 14, 1993 "Weekly Message", Greensboro weekly [1851-1871] N.C. Archives Pictures and maps found at May Memorial Library in Burlington, NC. Stories handed down by my grandfather, James Small, who was born 1852 and lived at Company Shops. "History" that I heard while growing up in Burlington, NC.