The names of cities, towns, townships, counties, states, rivers, roads, streets, etc. have fascinated me for decades.?ÿ Every place name was chosen by someone and accepted by others until it somehow became the official label for whatever it is.
In a different thread, Paden Cash mentioned Pink, Oklahoma and its Fishmarket Road situated such that the existence of a fish market seems unlikely.?ÿ Pink apparently had a twin town named Brown a short distance away.?ÿ Violet was also once a town in the same county.?ÿ Romulus and Remus are another example of twin towns in that same county.
Bad Axe, Muleshoe, Bird City, Slapout, Hooker, Felt, Broken Arrow and Broken Bow plus thousands of other town/city names provide the opportunity to explore why that name was chosen over something more common.?ÿ Creek/river names are equally weird.?ÿ Did you ever notice a sign at a bridge announcing you were about to cross Little Big Muddy Creek as opposed to what must logically be Big Big Muddy Creek??ÿ Equally confusing are situations where the same place name applies to two very different locations in the same?ÿ state.?ÿ Wichita, KS is not in Wichita County, Kansas and the same issue comes up with Ottawa, Cherokee, Johnson and several others.?ÿ Then there are the duplicates such as LaDue in Henry County, Mo as opposed to LaDue, MO which is a suburb of St. Louis.?ÿ The first has a current population of about 30 while the second has closer to 9000.?ÿ A relative was the postmaster in the little LaDue in the days before zip codes.?ÿ Mail quite frequently went to the wrong town.
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Boise, ID is in Ada County, which adjoins Boise County.
I live in Richland, WA, which lies in the rain shadow of the cascade mountains and gets less than 0.5' of rain per year. The land is about as rich as the Sahara desert. It's only liveable because of Grand Coulee Dam and the irrigation it provides.?ÿ
I've driven through Boring, OR many times. Well named (there is a bore hole there).
My favorite town name is Halfway, OR, which lies on the 45th parallel (more or less) halfway between the equator and the pole. I wonder what surveyor named that town??ÿ
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I've driven through Boring, OR many times. Well named (there is a bore hole there).
My favorite town name is Halfway, OR,
David -According to the book "Oregon Geographic Names", Boring was named after local resident W.H. Boring and in 1903 it was platted as "Boring Junction". Here's a link to a 1930 "true and exact copy" of the 1903 plat - http://cmap.clackamas.us/survey/SDImages/2S3E/01/0143.TIF
Halfway was established as a post office in 1887 and given that name because it was midway between the towns of Pine and Cornucopia. The above mentioned book is a favorite of mine and I always take it when we go galavanting around the state. It's 1000+ pages contain about 6200 entries about the origins of the names of towns, creeks, mountains, lakes and other such, well, geographic places. My favorite (not that I've read most of it) is for Mount Emily in Union County just north of the town of La Grande.?ÿ The author, who is usually very staid in his descriptions, really goes out of character on this one:
"... There is another history of the name to the effect that a very popular young lady named Emily lived on the slopes of the mountain in the early times, and she was often visited by the young men of La Grande, who christened the mountain because they so frequently went up to Mount Emily.
Places I visit almost every day have names like Tuttle, Ninnekah, Dibble, Woody Chapel or Etowah.?ÿ I believe most are namesakes.?ÿ Even Slaughterville, named for the Slaughter family that settled the area.
Out west there's a town named Retrop.?ÿ When the community originated it was called Porter.?ÿ When the population grew large enough to get a P.O. the feds told them there was already a Porter, OK...hence they just reversed the spelling and came up with Retrop.?ÿ I guess dyslexia is a common Okie thing.
I am fixing to spend a few days in Quitaque, pronounced "kitta-kway".?ÿ Not far away is what is left of a community, that was a town, named Shep.?ÿ My family had a hand, or rather a name, in that one.?ÿ Many of the small communities around me have lost their names to history, with the advent of school buses.?ÿ When it got easy to send kids to a central school, the communities just kinda went away.
I find it interesting how much more common the native language names are in the northeast than out west. I guess it's because the early colonists had more intimate contact and interactions with the folks that were already here. Many of the rivers, lakes and towns have Algonkian names. 2 out of the 6 New England states are named from Algonkian.
I find it interesting how much more common the native language names are in the northeast than out west. I guess it's because the early colonists had more intimate contact and interactions with the folks that were already here. Many of the rivers, lakes and towns have Algonkian names. 2 out of the 6 New England states are named from Algonkian.
I believe one of the reasons that there aren't more native names here in Oklahoma is because there weren't a lot of Native American settlements here originally; most of the indigenous Americans in the plains were nomadic and followed the sun and the buffalo.?ÿ They never settled anywhere for any length of time.?ÿ It wasn't until Washington herded all the eastern tribes out here in the early 1800's that settlements popped up.?ÿ Most probably named by the white man.
Swapping their historic lands in the east for all this red dusty clay with little or no running water was a death sentence for approximately 50% of the tribal populations.
Equally confusing are situations where the same place name applies to two very different locations in the same?ÿ state.?ÿ Wichita, KS is not in Wichita County, Kansas and the same issue comes up with Ottawa, Cherokee, Johnson and several others.
Similar in Iowa.?ÿ?ÿ Webster City is in Hamilton County, not Webster Co.?ÿ
Neither Benton nor Bentonsport are in Benton Co.
Neither Cedar, Cedar Falls, nor Cedar Rapids are in Cedar Co. (although Cedar Bluff is).
Central City is nowhere near the center of its county?ÿ nor the state.
Crawfordsville is not in Crawford Co.
Davis City is not in Davis Co.
Des Moines is not in Des Moines Co.
Emmetsburg is not in Emmet Co.
Fort Madison is not in Madison Co.
Franklin is not in Franklin Co.
Fremont is not in Fremont Co.
None of Greene, Greenfield, Green Island, Green Mountain, or Greenville are in Greene Co.
Iowa City is not in Iowa Co.
The list could go on ...
But all is not lost. Audubon is in Audubon Co, Boone in Boone Co, and Carroll in Carroll Co.?ÿ Cherokee is in Cherokee Co., but it seems unlikely any of the Cherokee Nation ever lived there.?ÿ Grundy Center is in Grundy Co. and Dallas Center is in Dallas Co., although neither is quite at the center of those counties.?ÿ
Naming towns in those early days would have been simpler than naming a creek that ran 20 miles or more with several significant branches.?ÿ There may have been a dozen different names used for the same creek but eventually one of those became the enduring name.?ÿ One not far from me is either Hinton Creek or Paint Creek, depending upon who you chat with.
One town's name was selected by a committee of the settlers.?ÿ One couple was absent because they were having a baby.?ÿ The committee decided to say nothing to the soon to be new parents but agreed to name the town by whatever the parents named the new baby.?ÿ Thus, Lyndon, Kansas came to be named.?ÿ Could have been Becky Sue or Delmer or Aloysius or Joe.
My area was primarily settled in a fairly short stretch of time by those from states further to the east.?ÿ We are absolutely loaded with names based on where those settlers had just left.?ÿ Most are town names but some are county names from those earlier locations.?ÿ When it comes to street names it seems many chose to use the names of U S Presidents.?ÿ Sometimes in order by when they served and sometimes in alphabetical order, which is confusing.?ÿ Lawrence, Kansas chose State names, including Maine, with what would normally be known as Main Street being Massachusetts, instead.
And then the English place names in Mass. don't adhere too closely to geographic placement. Northborough is west and south of Marlborough. Westborough is south of Northborough, and Southborough is north and east of Westborough. Fortunately, Southborough is actually south of Marlborough. And of course, Middleborough is located 50 miles to the southeast, with no towns ending with the suffix "borough" adjacent to it.
I believe my first brother-in-law was a native of Southborough.?ÿ But, he stopped being my brother-in-law 52 years ago so I'm not real clear on that now.
There has to be an interesting story or reason for Rancho Kukamunga, CA.?ÿ?ÿ
By 1200 AD, Kukamongan?ÿNative Americans?ÿhad established a village settlement in the area around present-day Red Hill, near the city's western border. Kukamonga derives its name from a Native American word meaning "sandy place."[25]?ÿAnthropologists have determined that this cluster of settlers likely belonged to the?ÿTongva people?ÿor Kich people, at one time one of the largest concentrations of Native American peoples on the North American continent.[26]?ÿIn the 18th century, following an expedition led by?ÿGaspar de Portola, the land was incorporated into the?ÿMission System?ÿestablished by?ÿFather Junipero Serra?ÿand his group of soldiers and?ÿFranciscan friars.
After a half century of political jockeying in the region, the land finally came under the control of?ÿJuan Bautista Alvarado, governor of Mexico. On March 3, 1839, Alvarado granted 13,000 acres of land in the area called "Cucamonga" to Tubercio Tapia, a first-generation Spanish native of?ÿLos Angeles, successful merchant, and notorious smuggler.[26][27]?ÿTapia went on to establish the?ÿfirst winery?ÿin California on his newly deeded land.[25][26][28][29]?ÿRancho Cucamonga?ÿwas purchased by John Rains and his wife in 1858.?ÿThe Rains family's home, Casa de Rancho Cucamonga, was completed in 1860 and now appears on the?ÿNational Register of Historic Places.[25][30]
During the ensuing years the town prospered and grew. In 1887, irrigation tunnels were dug into Cucamonga Canyon by?ÿChinese laborers?ÿand the?ÿSanta Fe Railroad?ÿwas extended through the area. Among the town's economic mainstays was agriculture, including olives, peaches, citrus, and, most notably, vineyards.[25]?ÿIn 1913, the?ÿPacific Electric Railway?ÿwas extended through Rancho Cucamonga in an effort to improve crop transportation. Several landmarks in existence today pay tribute to the city's multicultural founding. In particular, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel[31]?ÿremains as a relic of the area's Mexican agriculture laborers while the Chinatown House[32]?ÿstands as a reminder of the Chinese immigrants who labored in constructing the area's infrastructure.[26]
In 1977, the?ÿunincorporated?ÿcommunities of?ÿAlta Loma, Cucamonga, and?ÿEtiwanda?ÿvoted to incorporate, forming the city of Rancho Cucamonga.[33]
