naming of Texas towns. (original) (raw)
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?
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)