There is a minor mystery afoot about just why we are named “Ben’s Creek Nursery.”
The most common assumption is that we are named after this guy:
This is not Ben. This is Robert Neville, the owner/operator of Ben’s Creek Nursery.
And none of these are Ben either. This is Treva, Keith, Wilson, and Brock.
However, there is one Ben associated with the Nursery. The Neville family had a black lab named Ben. As a result, Ben the black lab is the prime suspect for many as the source for our name.
This was Ben.
Ben frequented the offices and grounds of Ben’s Creek Nursery every day for years, until he finally passed on. His presence is still missed, not just by us, but also by our neighbors and the town of Littleton – because Ben was never one to sit still for very long. Despite contrary orders from Robert, Ben often traveled widely to visit others, and thereby earned the name “Ranger Ben.”
But as revered as Ben was in these parts, the Nursery is not named after him – in fact, Ben was named after the Nursery.
So whence cometh the name?
This. This is Ben’s Creek. It is a stream with headwaters at Highway 158 that courses south, mixes with the waters of the Panacea Springs, and runs around and past the West family farm. This farm was the site of the nursery Robert and his family started back in the 90’s to grow full-grown, balled and burlapped trees for the commercial market.
The nursery is now discontinued. But after all these years Ben’s Creek still steadily plies its course in the Roanoke Valley, as does Ben’s Creek Nursery, offering full service lawn and landscape services to the Lake Gaston community.
Mystery solved. I guess we should all go back to work now.
