When
settlers from the U.S. poured into Texas following
its independence and later statehood, they starting slapping names on the places
where they put down roots.
Most
of the names are still around and just as colorful as they were decades ago. Bloody
Hollow in Delta County was named for a disagreement at a brush arbor revival.
Buggy Whip Creek in Hopkins County was named for local switch cane often
used as buggy whips.
Looneyville
in Nacogdoches County is near Loco and Crazy creeks, but the name comes
from the Looneys, a stable local family. Buck Naked lies in Parker County
and, contrary to rumor, is not a nudist colony.
Crush in McLennan
County, west of East Texas, is famous
for the Crash at Crush, where
two locomotives were pointed at Crush on the same track, and their throttles tied
open. The result was perhaps the only deliberate train crash in Texas.
In Lipscomb County, the folks who named five local creeks apparently couldn’t
find any colorful names, so they named them First, Second, Third, Fourth and
Fifth creeks.
Cut
‘n Shoot in Montgomery County was apparently named for the disposition
of the local menfolk. There are a few other supposed reasons.
There’s
a Deadwood
in Panola County, a Dime
Box in Lee County, a Dollarhide in Angelina County and a Day
Duck Creek in Kent County.
Four Notch can be found in Walker
County and Five Notch lies in Harrison County.
Byspot
in San Jacinto County got its name when O.H. Bennett of Conroe
spelled his wife’s name Topsy backward and added a B from his own last name.
Can’t
‘Cha Get Over That Creek lies in Kaufman County. The creek flooded after the
smallest rain, blocking the way of travelers.
Chicken Creek in
Walker County was named for wild chickens who occupied the area.
Fair
Play lies in Panola County and was named for the community’s concern for
a child from a wagon train who died in the community.
Uncertain
on Caddo Lake in Harrison County has several origins,
and the most popular is that it was named for the difficulty steamboat captains
had mooring their vessels at the site.
There are hundreds of places where
people have deliberately chosen short names, probably because they were easy to
remember.
Among them are Abe (Houston County), Art
(Mason County), Dull
(LaSalle), Dew (Freestone),
Drop (Denton), Enon
(Upshur), Fife
(McCullough), Fink
(Grayson), and Cash (Hunt) and Eli (Hall).
© Bob
Bowman March
4, 2012 Column
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