“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.
For many years, I lived in a shared rental where we had a subscription to the Chronicle, but nobody — 15 or 20 people over the years — ever looked at the sports section. When we got a piece of mail addressed to “Football Fans at (address),” a roommate crossed it out, wrote “Not at this address,” and put it back on the mailbox. After that, the house was known as Football Fans, which survives after 35 years as a group text name.
“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.
My husband’s father built an A-frame house out in the country that was accessed by a short gravel road. He named it Lost Lane.
For many years, I lived in a shared rental where we had a subscription to the Chronicle, but nobody — 15 or 20 people over the years — ever looked at the sports section. When we got a piece of mail addressed to “Football Fans at (address),” a roommate crossed it out, wrote “Not at this address,” and put it back on the mailbox. After that, the house was known as Football Fans, which survives after 35 years as a group text name.