Harold H. Hall was born on April 30, 1926, in the Nantahala community of Macon County, graduated from high school in Andrews, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and in 1943 became a telegrapher for the Southern Railway in Nantahala. Beginning a 44-year railroading career, he rose from the lowest ranks to the presidency of the company in 1979. He was a primary force behind the 1982 merger and consolidation of the Southern Railway and the Norfolk and Western, then was elected President and Chief Operating Officer of the new Norfolk Southern Corporation and was principally responsible for the smooth and effective integration of the two railroads. He also served on the Board of Directors of Norfolk Southern as well as the boards of several other corporations, and was Vice-Chairman when he retired as an officer of the corporation in 1987. He always considered the mountains of Western North Carolina his home and returned to them regularly, and after his death on January 19, 1991, a special funeral train carried him home one last time.