still part of the Mississippi Territory. By 1833, enough people had migrated to the area to warrant the creation of a county government; thus, Lauderdale County was established. In 1853, around the time that construction of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad began in the area, most of Richard McLemore's land was bought by Lewis A. Ragsdale, a lawyer from Alabama, and John T. Ball, a merchant from Kemper County. Both men sought to make a profit from the planned crossing of the Mobile and Ohio with the Vicksburg and Montgomery Railroad, but Ragsdale beat Ball to the area by a few days. Ragsdale's bought the McLemore Farm, which was east of present-day 27th Avenue and included much of what would become the central business district. Ball purchased only west of 27th Avenue. McLemore and his family moved north out of the city, and Ragsdale moved into McLemore's log home, turning it into a tavern. Ragsdale and Ball, now known as the founders of the city, began to compete with each other by laying out lots for new development on their respective land sections. The competition intensified over the desired name for the settlement. Ball believed the word "meridian" was synonymous to "junction," so he, along with the industrial citizens of the city, preferred that name, but the agrarian population of the city preferred "Sowashee," which means "mad river" in a Native American language and is the name of a nearby creek. Also, Ragsdale wanted to name the new settlement Ragsdale City after himself. Ball soon erected a small wooden station house and coerced the owners of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to grant depot privileges to the site. The owners agreed, provided the station was constructed according to their specifications and was furnished at the community's expense. For nearly two years, though, the site was treated as a mere flag station and denied ordinary station accommodations while the expense of station maintenance fell on Ball himself. The competition continued between Ragsdale and Ball. Each day the sign on the station house would be changed, alternating between Meridian and Sowashee. Instead of compromising, the two founders began to lay out city streets with differing plans. One day one of them would drive stakes in line with his plan, and the next day, the other would pull up his rival's stakes and drive some of his own. Ball laid his streets parallel