The Building of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad
In 1881 when the first intimation came of the building
of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, Big Lick was a
thriving town of six or seven hundred population and
there had been a few more additions to the manufacturing
and general business interests of the place.
At this point in the history of the city of Roanoke,
Philadelphia capitalists, who had bought and taken
charge of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, which had
been built at that time as far south as Waynesboro,
determined to make a connection with the Norfolk
& Western Railroad, which was then in the hands of a
receiver.
They sent their agents and engineers to this section
to select the most available point for a junction.
It is a well known fact that the most important event
in the history of Roanoke was the advent of the
Shenandoah Valley Railroad.
On a bright morning in June, 1881, a number of
citizens of Big Lick gathered in front of a little building
on the Southeast corner of Commerce Street and what
is now known as First Avenue.
A branch of the Lynchburg Trust Company conducted
a banking business on the second floor of this
building, which was one of the principal business
structures at the time.
Peyton L. Terry had just returned from Salem with
news of the fact that negotiations between representatives
of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad and citizens
of Salem for bringing the terminus of the road to that
point had proved unsuccessful.
While the matter was being discussed, Peyton L.
Terry remarked that if a subscription of only $10,000
was required, there was no reason why that sum could
not be promptly raised, and the terminal secured for
