Where Is/Was the "Big Spring at Elliston ?

[NW Mailing List]

On Wed, Apr 17, 2019 at 4:21 PM Ray wrote:

> Abram,
>
>
>
> This response does not provide exact answers to the questions you raised
> but perhaps provides some useful background information.
>
>
>
> What I believe to be the  location of the Big Spring is about  2000 feet
> west of where the depot was in Elliston, on the south side of the tracks.
> If you look on Google Earth, you will see some ponded water that still
> exists there  and is related to the spring.  It is on the north side on
> Rt.11/460 between that and the tracks.  While I do not direct knowledge of
> this, I have read that the spring and pond were used to produce watercress
> which was put on “an express train” in Elliston and shipped overnight to
> New York restaurants.  One will still see watercress growing in the pond.
>

Ray is right about the watercress. That pond is somewhat weed choked now,
but is between the road and bluff, across from the sawmill just west of
where Big Spring Road joins the four-lane highway.

This just scratches the surface of the names of that community:
"Big Springs lies on Norfolk and Western Railway, with its tremendous water
reserves and flat fields lying between highway and railroad, it was picked
by Andrew Carnegie in the "boom days" of 1880 as a steel center (Montgomery
had an "Iron Mountain Railway and Iron Mines"), and was called for a time
"Carnegie City"; when the bubble burst its Pennsylvania Avenue reverted to
Main Street, and the community changed its name to ELLISTON, a lovely,
industrous area today."  from *The Montgomery County Story 1776-1957* compiled
and edited by Charles W. Crush

Here is the Google map view of the area:
https://goo.gl/maps/87nPQdrhbLPNJo3v5

Bruce in Blacksburg
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