part 2/2 of earlier post with no subject sent by an over-eager grandson. Sorry 'bout that. "We still need . . . school-houses and churches. Much, complaint exists among those who are compelled to live here, that their children are growing up in ignorance and sin . . . "Here is a population of three hundred persons who . . . never hear a prayer nor a sermon, and that not from any fault of theirs . . . " (Ref: Fifteenth Annual Report of the President of N.C. Railroad 1864) Two years later it was reported: "At the Shops five new buildings have been finished for the accomodation of employees of the company . . . a fire engine has been purchased with 500 feet of hose which will be a great assistance in case of fire . . . " (Ref: Seventeenth Annual Report of the President of N.C. Railroad 1866) Company Shops was incorporated in February, 1866. The corporate limits of the town were specified to be a mile and one-half square, "having for the centre of the same, the Hotel of the North Carolina Railroad." (Ref: Documents of N. C. Legislature, 1866) The first commissioners of the incorporated village were J. G. MOORE, B. E. SEIGENT, E. WILKES, Dr. W. C. TARPLEY and Jacob TROLLINGER. In 1886 the North Carolina Railroad Company decided to transfer its operations to Manchester, Virginia, and the railroad office and shops At Company Shops were closed. With the removal of teh business which had given the village its name, Company Shops threatened to become a ghost town. There were a few stores along Main Street, but most of the present business district consisted of vacent lots. Three cotton mills and the two-year-old Burlington Coffin Factory were the only sizable industries in the village. Nevertheless, the Railroad Hotel still attracted salesmen and visitors, and, depending heavily on their infant industries and business to see them through to better times, the 1,000 to 1,500 inhabitants of Company Shops worked to keep the village alive. Company Shops gets a New Name Since the railroad shops no longer operated here, the citizens of Company Shops began to discuss the need for a more suitable, a more distinguised name for their town. Just how the name Burlington was selected is a story with several variations. In February, 1887, several of the town's leading citizens held a meeting for the purpose of selecting the name. The meeting was dominated aby an influential civic organization of the day known as the "Knights of Labor," and there was considerable debate between the members of this group and others on the names suggested. Among those most prominent mentioned were "Holtsville" and the polysyllabic "Carolinadelphia" Soon realizing that they were making no progress, the citizens present decided to appoint a committee of seven men to whom they would instrust the selection of the name for the town. Dr. B.A. SELLERS, Dr. R.A. FREEMAN, Captain James A. TURRENTINE, Joseph A. HOLT, J.A. MCCAULEY, W.A. FOGLEMAN, and W.A. ERWIN were elected to this committee, which retired to a small room above teh FREEMAN and ZACHARY Drug store (1949 Main Street Drug Store) and after some deliberation, chose the name "Burlington." Mr. ERWIN said later that the name was selected from the U. s. Postal Guide. (Ref: HUNTER, J. A., Burlington Times-News, November 27, 1936). Another version of the story claims that the name was suggested by Miss Katherine SCALES from those which had been listed on a paper which had been hung in the window of the drug store (Ref: HARDEN, John. Alamance County, Economic and Social, Chapel Hill, 1928). The third version is that an aged and respected negro who was present listened to the committee's arguments and finally proposed that the town be named for a large Jersy bull, named "Burlington" after the Vermont city from which it came, and which was allowed by its owner to wander through the streets of Company Shops (Ref: LONG, Will S., Jr.) With a new name, and "I'll tell the world" as its motto, the village of Burlington began its history in 1887. On July 25 of that year the first newspaper, the Burlington News, was lauched by W. A. CLAPP. The city of Burlington was incorporated and a charter was issued by the State Legislature on February 14, 1893. The railroad shops were reopened for a brief period about 1890, but the North Carolina Railroad moved its headquarters to Spencer, N. C., in 1897, and the last of the railroad operations at Burlington came to an end. A depression descended over Burlington. But gradually the town recovered. About the time of the removal of the shop operations, the Aurora Cotton Mill opened here, and this marked the beginning of the textile industry on which the City of Burlington was built. The location of the Burlington City Hall was a corn field at the turn of the century. In 1889, the City Council rented a room for the meeting of the mayor and aldermen at the extravagant sum of $2 per month. The mayor received no salary until 1890, when it was suggested that he be paid $100 a year and fees. A recorder's court was initiated for the city in 1910 with the mayor as the presiding official, and not until recently (1949) was the position filled by a judge. the City Hall was erected in 1915. In 1945, the city manager form of government was instituted. ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange