Mrs. McGilvray was a Special Education teacher for Chatham County [North Carolina] Public Schools. She and two other teachers from the school system were killed in an automobile accident.
From the Burlington Daily Times, January 10, 1980:
'Three Chatham County school teachers including a Snow Camp woman were killed Wednesday afternoon when a tractor-trailer truck swerved out of control and struck the car in which they were traveling head- on. The three were returning from jobs in Siler City to their homes in Greensboro and Snow Camp when the fatal accident occurred, splitting the the 1976 Mercury in which they were traveling in two and killing them all instantly. State Highway Patrol Trooper H Shelton Brown said Ralph McLeod of Rt I Tar Heel, south of here lost control of his 1977 International truck when it ran off the shoulder of U S 421 about 3.3 miles north of Siler City at 3:35 pm. Brown said the truck ran off the right side of the road and traveled 117 feet, then struck a driveway culvert and traveled another 122 feet jackknifed and crossed over into the northbound lane and struck the car being driven by Gayla Dawn Andrew, 25, of Snow Camp. Also killed were two passengers in the car, Patricia Mack Jones, 27, of Greensboro and Mona Blevins McGilvray, 27, also of Greensboro. The estimated speed of both vehicles at impact, the Highway Patrol report states was 50 mph. The tractor-trailer registered to Welton Bordeaux of Dublin, sustained an estimated $10,000 damage and the car was reportedly a total loss with $4,500 damage reported. McLeod has been charged with driving left of center and three counts of death by motor vehicle, the Highway Patrol reports. He reportedly sustained minor injuries in the accident and was transported to Chatham County Hospital by private vehicle where he was treated and released.'
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Excerpt from 'The Greensboro News & Record' May 10, 1990 regarding the notorious stretch of highway on which Mrs. McGilvray, Mrs. Jones, and Miss Andrew lost their lives:
'The seven-mile stretch of U.S. 421 between Siler City and Staley - where 13 people died during the 1980s, and more than 350 were injured - is now quiet and uncongested.The tractor-trailer rigs, the constant stream of cars headed to and from the North Carolina coast and commuters from Greensboro now travel a 12-mile U.S. 421 bypass that opened recently after being talked about for 35 years.
The bypass is straight, level and with wide shoulders - a contrast to the old road, with narrow pavement, steep hills, hairpin curves and - until the mid-1980s - no shoulder. As someone once put it, old U.S. 421 didn't allow for any margin of error.
Residents living along the old highway, which they called ''Killer Road,' are enjoying the solitude. They have the road to themselves. Gone are the days and nights of hearing metal colliding, followed by eerie silence.
''The new road has cut down on the traffic considerably,' says Brownie Andrews, who lives on a curve on old 421 between Siler City and Staley. ''I can't hardly describe how nice it is now. It is just wonderful.'
He says 25 people were killed just within sight of his house since he moved there in 1948.
''Now that's over a 40-year period, but that's still a lot of folks,' he says.
Along the entire 7 miles, the 1980s probably were the bloodiest, with 13 deaths, including four in three different accidents in 1986.
The most shocking accident - and perhaps one that spurred the move to finally build the bypass - happened in January 1980. An out-of-control tractor-trailer crashed into a car carrying three school teachers from Greensboro who car pooled daily to schools in Siler City. All three teachers were killed.
Several days later, a friend of one of the teachers was injured in a head-on collision with a truck on the same stretch while she was returning from the funeral of her friend.
The road just wasn't wide enough to handle fast moving rigs and autos.
''We're just tickled to get the tractor-trailer rigs off the old road,' said Lex Kelly, the state Department of Transportation's district engineer for Randolph and Chatham counties.
The deathly stretch began where the four-lane U.S. 421 from Greensboro ended, just south of Liberty. After the 1980 accident involving the teachers, someone erected a skull and crossbones sign there warning: ''Danger, 7 miles of Killer Road, Drive Carefully.'
Seven miles later, at the Siler City city limits, another sign said: ''Congratulations, you made it.'
[*Note: The signs mentioned above were erected by students from Jordan-Matthews High School where Miss Andrew & Mrs. Jones were teachers.]
From the Burlington Daily Times, January 10, 1980:
'Three Chatham County school teachers including a Snow Camp woman were killed Wednesday afternoon when a tractor-trailer truck swerved out of control and struck the car in which they were traveling head- on. The three were returning from jobs in Siler City to their homes in Greensboro and Snow Camp when the fatal accident occurred, splitting the the 1976 Mercury in which they were traveling in two and killing them all instantly. State Highway Patrol Trooper H Shelton Brown said Ralph McLeod of Rt I Tar Heel, south of here lost control of his 1977 International truck when it ran off the shoulder of U S 421 about 3.3 miles north of Siler City at 3:35 pm. Brown said the truck ran off the right side of the road and traveled 117 feet, then struck a driveway culvert and traveled another 122 feet jackknifed and crossed over into the northbound lane and struck the car being driven by Gayla Dawn Andrew, 25, of Snow Camp. Also killed were two passengers in the car, Patricia Mack Jones, 27, of Greensboro and Mona Blevins McGilvray, 27, also of Greensboro. The estimated speed of both vehicles at impact, the Highway Patrol report states was 50 mph. The tractor-trailer registered to Welton Bordeaux of Dublin, sustained an estimated $10,000 damage and the car was reportedly a total loss with $4,500 damage reported. McLeod has been charged with driving left of center and three counts of death by motor vehicle, the Highway Patrol reports. He reportedly sustained minor injuries in the accident and was transported to Chatham County Hospital by private vehicle where he was treated and released.'
_________________________________________________
Excerpt from 'The Greensboro News & Record' May 10, 1990 regarding the notorious stretch of highway on which Mrs. McGilvray, Mrs. Jones, and Miss Andrew lost their lives:
'The seven-mile stretch of U.S. 421 between Siler City and Staley - where 13 people died during the 1980s, and more than 350 were injured - is now quiet and uncongested.The tractor-trailer rigs, the constant stream of cars headed to and from the North Carolina coast and commuters from Greensboro now travel a 12-mile U.S. 421 bypass that opened recently after being talked about for 35 years.
The bypass is straight, level and with wide shoulders - a contrast to the old road, with narrow pavement, steep hills, hairpin curves and - until the mid-1980s - no shoulder. As someone once put it, old U.S. 421 didn't allow for any margin of error.
Residents living along the old highway, which they called ''Killer Road,' are enjoying the solitude. They have the road to themselves. Gone are the days and nights of hearing metal colliding, followed by eerie silence.
''The new road has cut down on the traffic considerably,' says Brownie Andrews, who lives on a curve on old 421 between Siler City and Staley. ''I can't hardly describe how nice it is now. It is just wonderful.'
He says 25 people were killed just within sight of his house since he moved there in 1948.
''Now that's over a 40-year period, but that's still a lot of folks,' he says.
Along the entire 7 miles, the 1980s probably were the bloodiest, with 13 deaths, including four in three different accidents in 1986.
The most shocking accident - and perhaps one that spurred the move to finally build the bypass - happened in January 1980. An out-of-control tractor-trailer crashed into a car carrying three school teachers from Greensboro who car pooled daily to schools in Siler City. All three teachers were killed.
Several days later, a friend of one of the teachers was injured in a head-on collision with a truck on the same stretch while she was returning from the funeral of her friend.
The road just wasn't wide enough to handle fast moving rigs and autos.
''We're just tickled to get the tractor-trailer rigs off the old road,' said Lex Kelly, the state Department of Transportation's district engineer for Randolph and Chatham counties.
The deathly stretch began where the four-lane U.S. 421 from Greensboro ended, just south of Liberty. After the 1980 accident involving the teachers, someone erected a skull and crossbones sign there warning: ''Danger, 7 miles of Killer Road, Drive Carefully.'
Seven miles later, at the Siler City city limits, another sign said: ''Congratulations, you made it.'
[*Note: The signs mentioned above were erected by students from Jordan-Matthews High School where Miss Andrew & Mrs. Jones were teachers.]
Mrs. McGilvray was a Special Education teacher for Chatham County [North Carolina] Public Schools. She and two other teachers from the school system were killed in an automobile accident.
From the Burlington Daily Times, January 10, 1980:
'Three Chatham County school teachers including a Snow Camp woman were killed Wednesday afternoon when a tractor-trailer truck swerved out of control and struck the car in which they were traveling head- on. The three were returning from jobs in Siler City to their homes in Greensboro and Snow Camp when the fatal accident occurred, splitting the the 1976 Mercury in which they were traveling in two and killing them all instantly. State Highway Patrol Trooper H Shelton Brown said Ralph McLeod of Rt I Tar Heel, south of here lost control of his 1977 International truck when it ran off the shoulder of U S 421 about 3.3 miles north of Siler City at 3:35 pm. Brown said the truck ran off the right side of the road and traveled 117 feet, then struck a driveway culvert and traveled another 122 feet jackknifed and crossed over into the northbound lane and struck the car being driven by Gayla Dawn Andrew, 25, of Snow Camp. Also killed were two passengers in the car, Patricia Mack Jones, 27, of Greensboro and Mona Blevins McGilvray, 27, also of Greensboro. The estimated speed of both vehicles at impact, the Highway Patrol report states was 50 mph. The tractor-trailer registered to Welton Bordeaux of Dublin, sustained an estimated $10,000 damage and the car was reportedly a total loss with $4,500 damage reported. McLeod has been charged with driving left of center and three counts of death by motor vehicle, the Highway Patrol reports. He reportedly sustained minor injuries in the accident and was transported to Chatham County Hospital by private vehicle where he was treated and released.'
_________________________________________________
Excerpt from 'The Greensboro News & Record' May 10, 1990 regarding the notorious stretch of highway on which Mrs. McGilvray, Mrs. Jones, and Miss Andrew lost their lives:
'The seven-mile stretch of U.S. 421 between Siler City and Staley - where 13 people died during the 1980s, and more than 350 were injured - is now quiet and uncongested.The tractor-trailer rigs, the constant stream of cars headed to and from the North Carolina coast and commuters from Greensboro now travel a 12-mile U.S. 421 bypass that opened recently after being talked about for 35 years.
The bypass is straight, level and with wide shoulders - a contrast to the old road, with narrow pavement, steep hills, hairpin curves and - until the mid-1980s - no shoulder. As someone once put it, old U.S. 421 didn't allow for any margin of error.
Residents living along the old highway, which they called ''Killer Road,' are enjoying the solitude. They have the road to themselves. Gone are the days and nights of hearing metal colliding, followed by eerie silence.
''The new road has cut down on the traffic considerably,' says Brownie Andrews, who lives on a curve on old 421 between Siler City and Staley. ''I can't hardly describe how nice it is now. It is just wonderful.'
He says 25 people were killed just within sight of his house since he moved there in 1948.
''Now that's over a 40-year period, but that's still a lot of folks,' he says.
Along the entire 7 miles, the 1980s probably were the bloodiest, with 13 deaths, including four in three different accidents in 1986.
The most shocking accident - and perhaps one that spurred the move to finally build the bypass - happened in January 1980. An out-of-control tractor-trailer crashed into a car carrying three school teachers from Greensboro who car pooled daily to schools in Siler City. All three teachers were killed.
Several days later, a friend of one of the teachers was injured in a head-on collision with a truck on the same stretch while she was returning from the funeral of her friend.
The road just wasn't wide enough to handle fast moving rigs and autos.
''We're just tickled to get the tractor-trailer rigs off the old road,' said Lex Kelly, the state Department of Transportation's district engineer for Randolph and Chatham counties.
The deathly stretch began where the four-lane U.S. 421 from Greensboro ended, just south of Liberty. After the 1980 accident involving the teachers, someone erected a skull and crossbones sign there warning: ''Danger, 7 miles of Killer Road, Drive Carefully.'
Seven miles later, at the Siler City city limits, another sign said: ''Congratulations, you made it.'
[*Note: The signs mentioned above were erected by students from Jordan-Matthews High School where Miss Andrew & Mrs. Jones were teachers.]
From the Burlington Daily Times, January 10, 1980:
'Three Chatham County school teachers including a Snow Camp woman were killed Wednesday afternoon when a tractor-trailer truck swerved out of control and struck the car in which they were traveling head- on. The three were returning from jobs in Siler City to their homes in Greensboro and Snow Camp when the fatal accident occurred, splitting the the 1976 Mercury in which they were traveling in two and killing them all instantly. State Highway Patrol Trooper H Shelton Brown said Ralph McLeod of Rt I Tar Heel, south of here lost control of his 1977 International truck when it ran off the shoulder of U S 421 about 3.3 miles north of Siler City at 3:35 pm. Brown said the truck ran off the right side of the road and traveled 117 feet, then struck a driveway culvert and traveled another 122 feet jackknifed and crossed over into the northbound lane and struck the car being driven by Gayla Dawn Andrew, 25, of Snow Camp. Also killed were two passengers in the car, Patricia Mack Jones, 27, of Greensboro and Mona Blevins McGilvray, 27, also of Greensboro. The estimated speed of both vehicles at impact, the Highway Patrol report states was 50 mph. The tractor-trailer registered to Welton Bordeaux of Dublin, sustained an estimated $10,000 damage and the car was reportedly a total loss with $4,500 damage reported. McLeod has been charged with driving left of center and three counts of death by motor vehicle, the Highway Patrol reports. He reportedly sustained minor injuries in the accident and was transported to Chatham County Hospital by private vehicle where he was treated and released.'
_________________________________________________
Excerpt from 'The Greensboro News & Record' May 10, 1990 regarding the notorious stretch of highway on which Mrs. McGilvray, Mrs. Jones, and Miss Andrew lost their lives:
'The seven-mile stretch of U.S. 421 between Siler City and Staley - where 13 people died during the 1980s, and more than 350 were injured - is now quiet and uncongested.The tractor-trailer rigs, the constant stream of cars headed to and from the North Carolina coast and commuters from Greensboro now travel a 12-mile U.S. 421 bypass that opened recently after being talked about for 35 years.
The bypass is straight, level and with wide shoulders - a contrast to the old road, with narrow pavement, steep hills, hairpin curves and - until the mid-1980s - no shoulder. As someone once put it, old U.S. 421 didn't allow for any margin of error.
Residents living along the old highway, which they called ''Killer Road,' are enjoying the solitude. They have the road to themselves. Gone are the days and nights of hearing metal colliding, followed by eerie silence.
''The new road has cut down on the traffic considerably,' says Brownie Andrews, who lives on a curve on old 421 between Siler City and Staley. ''I can't hardly describe how nice it is now. It is just wonderful.'
He says 25 people were killed just within sight of his house since he moved there in 1948.
''Now that's over a 40-year period, but that's still a lot of folks,' he says.
Along the entire 7 miles, the 1980s probably were the bloodiest, with 13 deaths, including four in three different accidents in 1986.
The most shocking accident - and perhaps one that spurred the move to finally build the bypass - happened in January 1980. An out-of-control tractor-trailer crashed into a car carrying three school teachers from Greensboro who car pooled daily to schools in Siler City. All three teachers were killed.
Several days later, a friend of one of the teachers was injured in a head-on collision with a truck on the same stretch while she was returning from the funeral of her friend.
The road just wasn't wide enough to handle fast moving rigs and autos.
''We're just tickled to get the tractor-trailer rigs off the old road,' said Lex Kelly, the state Department of Transportation's district engineer for Randolph and Chatham counties.
The deathly stretch began where the four-lane U.S. 421 from Greensboro ended, just south of Liberty. After the 1980 accident involving the teachers, someone erected a skull and crossbones sign there warning: ''Danger, 7 miles of Killer Road, Drive Carefully.'
Seven miles later, at the Siler City city limits, another sign said: ''Congratulations, you made it.'
[*Note: The signs mentioned above were erected by students from Jordan-Matthews High School where Miss Andrew & Mrs. Jones were teachers.]
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