Abstract:
In commemoration of its 250th anniversary, Bertie County celebrated Kelford Day with a passenger train trip to Rocky Mount for 550 county residents. At one time, Kelford (pop. 300) had been a busy stop for regional rail service with as many as eight passenger trains a day heading out for Rocky Mount or Norfolk. Amtrak originally agreed to send a train for the celebration but tried to back out of the deal until pressure from local citizens, Congressman Walter Jones, the Department of Transportation, and the White House forced them to honor their original agreement.