William Graham Claytor (December 20, 1886 – February 28, 1971), of Roanoke, Virginia, was the vice president of

Appalachian Power Company Appalachian may refer to: * Appalachian Mountains, a major mountain range in eastern United States and Canada * Appalachian Trail, a hiking trail in the eastern United States * The people of Appalachia and their culture ** Appalachian Americans ...

, an electric utility service. He is best remembered for supervising the construction of the

Claytor Dam The Claytor Dam is a gravity dam on the New River in Pulaski County, Virginia, United States. It is also located about south of Radford. It is named after William Graham Claytor, then vice president of Appalachian Power Company (APC), who was in ...

and creation of a 4,500 acre (18 km²), 21 mile (34 km) long lake on the New River in Pulaski County, a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

project completed in 1939. The resultant Claytor Lake and surrounding

Claytor Lake State Park Claytor Lake State Park is a state park in Pulaski County, Virginia. The park is located on Claytor Lake, a , reservoir on the New River formed by Claytor Dam, which is used to generate hydroelectric power by the Appalachian Power Compan ...

in Virginia are named for him. Claytor married Gertrude Harris Boatwright, a lyric poet who published two collections of her poems. Two of their three sons became well-known transportation administrators who led several large American railroads: *

W. Graham Claytor Jr. William Graham Claytor Jr. (March 14, 1912 – May 14, 1994) was an American attorney, United States Navy officer, and railroad, transportation and defense administrator for the United States government, working under the administrations of three ...

(1912–1994) headed the Southern Railway and later Amtrak. *

Robert B. Claytor Robert Buckner Claytor (February 27, 1922 – April 9, 1993) was an American railroad administrator. He became President of the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1981 and was instrumental in the merger of the Southern Railway and the Norfolk & West ...

(1922–1993) was president of the

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

, and the first president of the new Norfolk Southern when it was created in 1982. "The Claytor Brothers: Virginians Building America's Railroad" is a semi-permanent exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.

References

* John T. Kneebone et al., eds., ''Dictionary of Virginia Biography'' (Richmond, 1998- ), 3:295-296.

External links

Claytor Lake State Park (Virginia)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claytor, W. Graham 1886 births 1971 deaths People from Roanoke, Virginia Businesspeople from Virginia 20th-century American businesspeople