“I love place names.” So do I. Two things I find interesting: 1) Civil War battles often have two names. The Union tended to name a battle after a river or creek, the Confederacy tended to name the same battle after a town or city. Why? As a Civil War scholar, I do not know. 2) The historian Kenneth Jackson observed in his book *Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States* that suburban developments have often been named after what they destroyed to build the development: the name of a local wooded area, or a stream, or a meadow. Thanks for another really great post.
When I was in high school, we used to drive down a dead end street to scare ourselves. Everyone called it Stranger Ave becauae we swore that's what the sign said. Turns out it is Stanger Ave and not that scary in the daytime.
For some reason I just recalled a street in Hampton Bays, (my grandparents had a house there over 60 years ago). It was called "Last Lane." and indeed, it was the last street before the ocean.
“I love place names.” So do I. Two things I find interesting: 1) Civil War battles often have two names. The Union tended to name a battle after a river or creek, the Confederacy tended to name the same battle after a town or city. Why? As a Civil War scholar, I do not know. 2) The historian Kenneth Jackson observed in his book *Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States* that suburban developments have often been named after what they destroyed to build the development: the name of a local wooded area, or a stream, or a meadow. Thanks for another really great post.
I knew there were 2 names for every battle but didn't realize the creek vs town distinction. Would be interesting to know who started those customs
When I was in high school, we used to drive down a dead end street to scare ourselves. Everyone called it Stranger Ave becauae we swore that's what the sign said. Turns out it is Stanger Ave and not that scary in the daytime.
For some reason I just recalled a street in Hampton Bays, (my grandparents had a house there over 60 years ago). It was called "Last Lane." and indeed, it was the last street before the ocean.