What's in a name -geography related

NY 986

Well-known Member
The water thread about the cheese plant got me thinking about various names. The previously mentioned Lowville is pronounce Lauw-ville. Near Rochester, NY we have Charlottle which is pronounced Char-lot. Then there is Chili which is pronounced Ch-eye-lie. Then there is Avon which is not pronounced like the door to door cosmetics company. Then there is Penn Yan which is not named for another place of the same name but an occurrence in US history. A fair number of towns have a cheese factory road or saw mill rd. A number of towns in WNY have a Big Tree Rd which was named for an Indian treaty. A number also have a Perry road in honor of the War of 1812 US hero. To celebrate the Erie Canal we have Lockport, Middleport, Gasport, Brockport, Fairport, and Weedsport.
 
In missouri just off top of my head we got avilla,avola,avila,golden,golden city all in a 100 mile radius
 
We have a city of about 5500 residents in Wisconsin named Berlin. Many states have a town named Berlin after Berlin Prussia/Germany owing to the huge number of early immigrants from there. During WWI there was a large anti-german sentiment in the country and renaming of the town was discussed but they instead decided to pronounce it differently by accenting the first syllable of the word. They pronounce it as BURR-lin instead of ber-LINN. My US History teacher was an old polish lady who hated germans. She would say; "Make no mistake about it, it's ber-LINN". And she would stomp off to her desk. Fortunately, my last name doesn't sound german so I was able to stay on her good side. Along the same line, how many ways are there to pronounce New Orleans? (;>))
 
Went through the Anti-German thing while growing up. A few people changed the pronunciation of their last name during WWII. I went to school during the 1970's so you would think that some of the hatred would have died down by then. Where I live they were never much for outsiders so having a German surname did not help.
 
I spent a brief afternoon in Loo-uh-vull, Ky once. The wife's grandfather had a farm on Gore-Orphanage Road in Lorain county. Named for the orphanage that burned down. Many children were killed. Back in the forties, I think.
 
I went to the National Farm Machinery Show in Loo-uh-vull in Feb. I always thought they pronounced it that way to keep the tobacco juice from running out of their mouths. I spent some time at Fort Kaa-nox too. At least that was the way a few of us pronounced it.
 

Anyone ever been to Gnaw Bone, Indiana? How about Oolitic, Indiana (Pronounced O-lit-ic) Named after the type of limestone we quarry in the area. Of course, there's Shoals, named after the shallow spot in the White River. Tunnelton & Tunnell Hill, named so for railroad tunnels in the vicinity. We also have a lot of town's w/ "Station" in them, Reed's Station, Brown Station, Norman Station, due to there being a railroad stop @ the location along the Monon or Milwaukee. We also have Pumpkin Center, Lick Creek & Santa Claus.
 
Where my road turns off of a county hwy, there is a road on the other side called Dago Springs RD. A woman from CA moved on to that road and she went to the town board and asked for a name change for the road. She said that her clients from CA found the name offensive. They put another road sign up for her and now her side of the road has one name and the rest of the people have the old name.
 
We have a city in La. named Thibodaux (family name).a coworker had some out of state visitors who got lost on there way to him.asked them;where are you? They replied tie-bo-dee-ax,it?s actually pronounced thib-a-doe
 
There's a small town in eastern Nebraska spelled "Steinhauer".

The locals pronounce it "Steener".

Or like "Sigourney", Iowa. The movie actress Sigourney Weaver pronounces it Sig-Or'-nee.

In Iowa it's "Siggernee".
 
We have Summitville in the bottom of a valley. It was the highest point on the D&H canal. Many towns from native American names.
 
I have wondered if the fella that surveyed northern NY state had a thing for Ancient Greek history or mythology. Names like Utica, Ithaca,and Syracuse come to mind. All very nice sounding names, but in a relatively tight cluster of one state. And not found in other places, and not settled by Greek people.
 
Don't forget Lima (lie-ma). I used to live near Bull Sawmill Road, Quaker Meetinghouse Road, and Cheese Factory Road.
 
In 2012 I meet a very nice fellow in MULE SHOE TEXAS...I stopped for Diesel fuel...
I recall asking the gentleman about the towns name...his answer.....in the past Donkeys and Horses were corralled here!
 
There is also the Rochester suburb of Greece. I was told it was so named because of a political movement in Greece the nation at the time out of support. There is also a Mexico, NY and a Cuba, NY. The real Pa Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie fame was born near Cuba, NY. There exists an Ingalls Rd as well near Cuba, NY.
 
The county seat for Wyandot County Ohio is Upper Sandusky. Sandusky is translated from the Wyandot Indian tribe as meaning water. The reason for the name Upper Sandusky it is up the Sandusky river from the city of Sandusky.
 
(quoted from post at 09:11:50 06/06/19) We have Summitville in the bottom of a valley. It was the highest point on the D&H canal. Many towns from native American names.
Most states have Indian names.
 
(quoted from post at 09:09:22 06/06/19) Isn't there a Bean Blossom also?

If you're referring to Indiana, there sure is! It's no too far from Gnaw Bone.

4520, I was assuming you'd been to most those places. You live pretty close to a couple others, Peter's Switch & Azalea.
 
I?m guessing it?s a family name. (Poor kids!) it?s a short run leading to a lake east of the Flying Belgian.
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In this county alone, we have several little hamlets with odd names: Sage, No-knox (I swear!), Bone Town, Antioch, Barren Fork (Formerly Dry Town, now Mt. Pleasant, and where I call home) Forty Four (where my ancestors come from) Violet Hill, Wideman and Wiseman (though similar sounding, they're 20 miles apart). Near by, we also have Sidney, Old Joe, Wild Cherry, Fifty Six, Optimus, Almond (no almonds there, though) and Strawberry (no strawberries there, either). Some of these towns aren't even really towns, just spots on the side of 2 lane roads with a store that may or may not still be in business. The township of Old Joe is 1 mile square, but the road only runs 1/4 of a mile through it. You can stand at one sign and see the other. Lots of little southern towns with odd names.

Mac
 
There's an old quip that uses several town names here in Minnesota.
"He took Emily on an Outing to Remer then got to Aitkin so they went for Mora."
My hometown is Aitkin so we heard that all our lives.
 
Hey ?gobbler?. I got to know the Alto boys in my early years. Also did some work on the fire hall. The excavator on the edge of town that chews snuff still sticks in my mind.
 
Beaufort (BOW-fert) NC and Beaufort (BU-fert), SC.

Fayetteville (FAY-et-vil), NC and Fayetteville (fay-ET-vil), WV.

Charlotte (shar-let), NC and Charlotte (shar-LO), MI.

And let's not forget that in Colorado and Kansas, the Arkansas River is pronounced "ar-kan-sas", not "ar-ken-saw".
 
Yeah,
Back in the 20s or 30s Aitkin was the turkey capital of the world.
That industry is all gone now.
I think the excavator is Dale Lundgren.
I knew his brother better.
Never heard of the Altos.
I was up there last weekend. It finally dried out enough to plow gardens for my cousins.
 
How about these:

Number Four - a snowmobile club's hangout in the Adirondack park in NY state.

Hart Lot - Where I grew up in upstate NY. 2 miles from Welch-Allen, a manufacturer of medical equipment,

The Pee Dee river in south Carolina.

Then there are a number of strange names of towns in PA. Like Intercourse. Blue Ball, Paradise, Earl, Goodville, and the list goes on.

Also, my Aunt's husband (uncle by marriage) was the principal of the high school in Lowville, NY for a few years. Cold, snowy, and desolate.
 
They really get confused when they can't figure out if you are talking about Crozet or Crozier, only to realize that 250 passes through both.

Near me there is a place called Mangohick, said to have gotten its name after two Indians observed a white man with the hiccups. In case you want to find it, it's not too far from Frog Level!

Another crossroads is named Elevon. Even the local old-timers argue about how to pronounce it. Some say it's "Eleven", some "Ellie-von, while others say "Ella-vun."

Manquin (man quin) is located on the Moncuin (mon cu in) creek.

My county lies between the Pamunkey (puh mun key) and Mattaponi (matt uh pun i) rivers, also the names of the two local Indian tribes, who live on the only two reservations in Virginia.

Next county over has a Cumnor, pronounced come-ner. Your guess is as good as mine as to where that came from!
 
I forgot my favorite! Duane, which is pronounced "Dew Ain". The come heres insist it's Dwayne, and that I'm ignorant for saying it the correct way. A friend of mine lives there, his parents ran the store, and his mother was the last postmistress. I think he ought to know!
 
Not sure if the Alto?s were transplants. Their dad was a teacher there and would be in his 70?s. Dale L. Is the guy. Square shooter and good egg. Behind the fire hall in the city shed they had a AC-WC Road Patrol. Wonder where that went?
 

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