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Wonder Why They Named It That?
by Archie P. McDonald, PhD | |
Breathes
there a soul so dead, so a poet once said, who never to himself has said -- why
did they call (name) it that?
This can refer to tools, cuisine, or anything
else, but this article poses the question for villages, towns, and other gatherings
in East Texas. Fortunate, I
know a fellow who can tell us.
Fred Tarpley, who once upon a time
taught English at what is now Texas A&M -- Commerce, now does so at Jarvis Christian
College. His 1001 Texas Place Names, published by the University of Texas
Press, provides such information and more about Texas
towns.
Did you know that:
Abe, in Houston County,
was named for Abraham B. Thomas, the town's first postmaster;
Adsul,
in Newton County, drew its name for the Adams-Sullivan Lumber Company, which built
a sawmill there in 1906;
Apple
Springs, in Trinity County, got its identification from the abundance
of May apples growing near natural springs;
Barnum, in Polk County,
provides opportunity for argument--it was named for showman Phineas T. Barnum,
a friend of W.T. Carter, who established a sawmill there, but some say it was
named after the founder of a sawmill in Groveton;
Beans Creek,
in Cherokee County, got its moniker from Cherokee Chief Little Bean, rather than
the vegetable;
Bessmay, also in Jasper County, was so named by
John H. Kirby, after his daughter, when he built a sawmill there in 1900;
Bug
Tussle, in Fannin County, was named for a favorite picnic site for Sunday
School classes, and the wags say that after the picnic there was nothing to do
but watch the bugs tussle;
Chester, in Tyler County, was named
for U.S. President Chester A. Arthur, who resided in the White House when the
community was founded in 1883;
Choice, in Shelby County, got its
identity from the stubbornness of early leaders who were offered three potential
names for their community by the post office department and told to "pick your
choice," so they chose Choice;
Dixie, in Grayson, Panola, and
several other counties, drew its moniker from Confederate veteran settlers who
evidently were not quite Reconstructed; and
Etoile,
in Nacogdoches County, was named by a settler from France who thought he had found
his "star"--he doubtless pronounced it "a-twile" but everyone else says "e-toil."
Reckon Fred just made this up?
All
Things Historical
April 29-May 5, 2001
Published by permission.
A syndicated column in over
40 East Texas newspapers
(Archie P. McDonald is Director of the East Texas
Historical Association and author or editor of over 20 books on Texas) |
The
Naming of Texas Towns Texas
Town List - Over 2,500 Texas TownsTexas
on a First-name Basis
Of the roughly 2,000 town names on the official
state map, over 400 of them are first names.Those
strange town names by Bob Bowman
While some early East Texans
named their towns for families, their hometowns or landmarks, othes were a tad
more creative...
Jasper
and Newton Counties, Beyond the Sabine
Despite
odd names all over Lone Star State, 'Top 10' of the U.S. are commonplace here
by Bill Bradfield Why
did they name it that? by Archie P. McDonald
Wonder
Why They Named it That by Archie P. McDonald A
Geography Lesson by Bob Bowman New
Geography - Place name tweaking of several Counties and County Seats by Mike
Cox
Place name tweaking of several Counties and County Seats
Twin
Towns by Mike Cox Cut
and Shoot, Gun Barrel City, Gunsight, Point Blank and Winchester by Mike CoxBoo-boo
towns by Mike Cox
The Texas map is sprinkled with cities and towns that
got their names by mistake...Population
Ranks by Mike Cox
The historic urban population hierarchy and population
figures dating back to 1850... Unique
town names by Bob Bowman |
On
Texas Town Names - Recommended Books |
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