William Mahone's Birthplace

Southampton County · dedicated 2016 · Rte. 258 at intersection with Sycamore Church Road

William Mahone was born about four miles southwest of here on 1 Dec. 1826. As chief engineer of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, he oversaw construction of the line between the two cities. He became the railroad's president in 1860. Mahone served in the Confederate army and was promoted to major general after leading a counterattack at the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg in July 1864. In 1879 he helped found the Readjuster Party, a biracial coalition that favored strong state support of public schools and opposed full payment of Virginia’s antebellum state debt. He served in the U.S. Senate (1881-1887) and died in 1895.

Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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