Le Grand Arbre Commun

Betty Scanlan COLLINS Submission Search: 773666-0302100113655
BIOGRAPHIE: http://www.thetimesnews.com/2000/00-05/00-05-04/news-1.html 00/05/04
Name change has foes
BIOGRAPHIE: By Anslee Willett?Times-News
BIOGRAPHIE: Opposition to renaming Burlington?s Rauhut Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is beginning to trickle in to city officials.?The city manager?s office has received a letter from a Roxboro resident and one from a Sanford resident opposing a local effort to change the street name; both women said they grew up in Burlington. The city has also received at least one phone call opposing the change.?The plan would have Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard beginning at Holt Street where it intersects Main Street and continuing along Rauhut Street to the bridge at the Haw River.?Virginia Wrenn of Roxboro wrote that she opposes it because she grew up on Rauhut Street, ?and it is very disturbing to me to have my wonderful memories taken away.???But even more disturbing is the fact that I was always told that the street was named for a family named Rauhut because he was instrumental in the founding of Burlington and a staunch supporter in the success of the town,? she wrote.?The street is named after Charles F. Rauhut, a German native who in 1860 or 1861 came to work for the railroad in Burlington when it was Company Shops. He is buried in the Rauhut family plot at Pine Hill Cemetery in Burlington.?Weeks ago, Ollie Mae Watlington of Burlington issued a petition of 275 names to city officials asking them to change the name of Rauhut Street. Watlington said the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition of Alamance County asked her to head the effort.?But city officials were stumped on what to do with the petition. The problem: Such requests are so uncommon that the city doesn?t even have a policy for changing street names.?On Tuesday night, the Burlington City Council adopted a policy after spending weeks reworking the proposal from city staff.?The policy states that when a petition is received, the City Council will review the request during a work session. If there?s a consensus, it will be sent to the Burlington Planning and Zoning Commission for consideration.?If the commission denies it, petitioners can appeal to councilmen because the commission serves as an advisory board to them.??(The) City Council may or may not grant a hearing on the matter,? the policy states.?Bob Harkrader, the city?s planning director, plans to meet with Watlington next week to discuss her petition, which doesn?t list addresses.??I don?t know how many property owners she has and haven?t really reviewed what she?s got,? he said.?The policy says ?a significant number? of abutting properties must sign a petition.?Watlington said petition signers include Rauhut residents and business owners.??We had the riot on Rauhut Street and one man lost his life. They burnt a store down,? Watlington said Wednesday. ?We just want to forget about that. It?s no revenge or madness or this type of thing. We just want to forget about some of the bad things that happened on Rauhut Street in ?69.?
Facts about Rauhut
Who was Charles F. Rauhut, the man Rauhut Street was named after?? A German native who in 1860 or 1861 came to work for the railroad in Burlington when it was Company Shops. He made furniture and worked on wooden interiors of the cars in Company Shops.? In 1887, a general store at the corner of East Front and Spring streets was built for Rauhut, who operated the store.? He and his wife, Julia Elizabeth Holt Rauhut, have been referred to as pioneer residents of Burlington.? He is buried in the Rauhut family plot at Pine Hill Cemetery in Burlington.