Lahore, Virginia
Lahore /ləˈhɔər/ is a small town in Orange County, Virginia in the United States of America, which was named after the ancient city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan in the 1850s. The latitude of Lahore is 38.198N. The longitude is -77.969W. It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 364 feet (111 m). [1]
History of Name
The village, it was told, was established by an American couple in 1860s who chose its name through random reading of a book on (the then) British India, which was quite in news those days because of War of Independence fought by the natives against the English in 1857.The name was derived from City of Lahore, which is now in Pakistan.
Pakistan's Response
The story got Pakistani media’s attention in mid seventies when a Pakistani American journalist, Mr. Akmal Aleemi wrote a column in a popular Urdu Daily, Imroz. The column informed about the existence of Lahore in Virginia, which Mr. Aleemi discovered accidentally, when he lost his way in Orange County. The story although, got lost in people’s memories and life went on.[citation needed] Khalid Hasan, another journalist, broke the story once again in early 2007, with a pleasant news of a Lahori soul (Noor Naghmi) who was trying to buy the village of Lahore in Virginia.
Purchase of lands
Noor Naghmi, son of very well known broadcaster Abul Hasan Naghmi brought the American Lahore to the news once again in 2007. The junior Naghmi, Noor, is a dealer in mortgage and rental properties in Virginia’s Fairfax County. After a years long negotiations with Nancy Wallace, a farmer and tough negotiator who owned the 235 acres (0.95 km2) of American Lahore including the center of the town, Naghmi was able to strike a deal for USD 3 million. It was not, however, an easy venture with an owner who believed she had no plans to sell, although “everything I have is for sale, for the right price,” she said.
Naghmi now, has a dream. The centre of the 1,500-resident farming town about 75 miles (121 km) south of Washington is a strip of whitewashed buildings on a quiet stretch of road. An old water pump sits idle. A faded Esso sign creaks in the breeze. “The venture is an expensive gamble for Naghmi,” a Washington based newspaper says, but quotes Naghmi as saying, “I have this feeling I was born to do this. People might think I’m crazy for saying so, but that is what I believe.” He says he thinks that his successful ventures will help make his Lahore dream possible.
Naghmi's Plans
Naghmi told the Washington Post’s Indian-American reporter Sandhya Somashekhar in 2007 that his $3 M deal will turn Lahore, Virginia into a regional tourist attraction for South Asians and others. His plans include a banquet hall fashioned after his hometown’s famous Shalimar Gardens. He envisions a library and a museum dedicated to the histories of both Lahores. He wants to open a bed-and-breakfast place to serve chickpea curry alongside eggs and toast. He wants to organize Basant with all its fan fare and pomp in the American Lahore.
According to reports, he has begun negotiating with a film studio in Hyderabad, India, to create the facades for his buildings. He recently put up a sign — written in English, Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi, advertising the coming of the Lahore Museum.
See also
Notes
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Coordinates: 38°11′55″N 77°58′10″W / 38.19861°N 77.96944°W