Place Names 2.0

     In the middle of an Ohio winter, there are periods of cold, dreary weather. Not to worry - days will be  getting longer. Here’s an easy, cost effective cabin fever relief idea: take a drive on local roads. You will see signs for towns, streets, and points of interest. Each name has a story behind it.

     Start on State Route (S R) 550. You’ll be heading west through or near stops on the 1850s-era Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad (M&C). From Marietta: 

Tunnel was named for the 1300-foot Vanderwarker Tunnel near there. Thomas W. Moore (another place name, Moore Junction on S R 7, was named for him) built the Tunnel station in 1854 by the rail line and operated a store there. In 1863, after funding delays, he finally completed building the tunnel. I say that it should have been named for Mr. Moore since he promoted and built it. Vanderwarker? He was the last resident to live on the site. 

McAvan is marked buy a small stone overpass near Bender Road at S R 550. 

Fleming was named for the nearby Fleming families. Andrews’ History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio ca 1902: "Fleming, a station on the old Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad, is now a prosperous little hamlet..., laid out August 3, 1853, by Henry Earle Vincent, who kept the first post office. The first store was opened by Church B. Tuttle, and Enoch Preston kept the first tavern." 

Henry - N. P. Henry owned several tracts near this stop. 

Vincent was founded as Vincent’s Station in 1853 by Henry Earle Vincent. 

Napier – maybe a misspelled version of a nearby property owner listed in 1858 as "G. Napler Jr." 

Dunbar was originally called Little Hocking since it crosses that river there. It’s known for the still standing 80 ft high stone "Dunbar piers" which held the railroad trestle. William Dunbar settled there from Virginia about 1814. 

Cutler was originally laid out in 1857 as Harshaville for William Harsha who had the first cabin there. It was later renamed for Ephraim Cutler's son, William P. Cutler, founder of the M&C Railroad.

Rinard Covered Bridge, one of three on S.R. 26, built in 1876. Viewed at thislocallife.com

     State Route 26 offers a plethora of interesting place names. It's such a winding road that you'll be driving slow enough to notice signs. You may need dramamine. From Marietta, you'll pass:

County House Lane, named for - well, you know that one. 

Hills Covered Bridge is just south of S R 26 on County Road 333, built in 1881, named for numerous Hill families in the area. 

Eightmile Road is a two-fer, named for Little Eightmile Creek and for being eight miles from somewhere. Ditto for Fifteen Mile Road, located a few miles east. 

Sitka is in Alaska, right? And Ohio, too. The name honors a soldier, Joseph Tomlinson Bukey (from a Williamstown WV family), who drowned while on duty in Sitka, Alaska. 

Cow Run has earned a permanent place in the oil and gas industry. Businessman John Newton and others drilled here in 1861. That touched off a boom that brought thousands of people to that remote area. The "Cow Run Sand" is the petroleum-producing layer from 500-800 feet deep in our region. 

Biehl's Store at Moss Run, closed now, was operated by the Biehl family for over a century. Historian Scott Britton pointed out that Moss Run is not named for the furry green stuff. It's the changed pronunciation of "Morse," the family that ran the post office there. 

Britton also explains how Dart, where the now closed Lawrence Elementary School building sits, got its name. A post office was planned there in 1905. While officials met to decide on a name, a bird caught their attention by "darting" to the ground. Dart became the name.

     Keep looking and be curious. There’s always a story.

Place Names

      Do you know what "Toponymy" means? I didn't. It refers to a study of place names. Every place has a name, it seems. "Places" can be  towns, counties, roads, neighborhoods, bodies of water - even stars in the heavens. They are often named for people (for example, Putnam Street), other places (Lowell named for Lowell MA), a local landmark (Churchtown, Slaughterhouse Hill, or Split Rock Drive), Native Americans words (Muskingum River), or events (Veto - honors Ephraim Cutler's veto of slavery in Ohio's constitution).

     I got sidetracked on this topic when some names I'd never heard of appeared in on-line maps. In Marietta, I saw the names Ruraldale, Mount Everett, Riverdale, Oakwood Park, and Putnam Place. In West Virginia the names like Central, Pohick, and Williams Highway were displayed. This triggered recollection of the names of stops along the Interurban Trolleys, railroads, and steamboat lines in the late 1800s. We think that only major metro areas have such public transportation networks. Not true. Even our small towns had these decades ago. The trolley cars ran every hour. Fares were the equivalent of $2-$3 today, less for shorter trips.

    Public transit stop names have disappeared from use and memory. Below are some trolley and train stops from the Book of Marietta published in 1906. How many do you recognize?

MUSKINGUM TROLLEY LINE Total fare Court House to Ferncliff Park, 10 cents. Stations: Marietta, Lynnwood Avenue, Rathbone, Columbia Avenue, Children’s Home, Muskingum Terrace, Unionville, Jersey Heights, Dawes, Hemlock, Lowell Road, Country Club, Walnut Hill, Putnam Stop, Devol’s Dam, Bellevue Terrace, Cloverdale, Riley’s, Free Ferry, Fern Cliff Park.

 PARKERSBURG - MARIETTA TROLLEY LINE Total fare to Parkersburg 15 cents. Stations: Marietta, Williamstown, Pohick, Pughs, Homestead, Sand Hill, Kellars, Boaz, Summit, Enoch, Central, Appomatox, Bils Crossing, Green Mount, Rosemawr, Vienna, Brymawr, Riverview, U. S. Engine Works, Buena Vista, Maplewood, Redwood, Springdale, Beechwood Junction, Pottery Junction, Parkersburg.

BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD to Parkersburg. Stations: West Marietta, Moore’s Junction, Scott’s Landing, Gravel Bank, Constitution, Briggs, Belpre, Parkersburg.

     Clues: Mount Everett is on Lancaster Street south of Slaughterhouse Hill. Riverdale is the area around Brentwood Street. Names like this were probably those of new (at the time) residential developments. Muskingum Terrace is the area behind Greenleaf Landscapes.

    Unionville is along State Route (S. R.) 821 just above the intersection with S. R. 60. It was originally established as Pinchtown in 1830, perhaps because it is located in a narrow section against a hill. Others have suggested that some criminals were “pinched” (apprehended) there. Anyone heard of Jersey Heights? Not me. There was a pavilion at Ferncliff Park, an entertainment venue for picnics and parties. This and another in Parkersburg (Terrapin Park) were built to attract riders for the trolley system. Just before Ferncliff was the Free Ferry across the Muskingum River.

     Scott’s Landing was located on the Ohio River near the Shelley and Sands facility on S. R. 7. It was a busy place during the tense days of Morgan’s Raid in 1863. Gravel Bank is near S. R. 7 and Blue Knob Road (interesting place name, eh?). Gravel Bank Cemetery is a resting place for many Ephraim Cutler family members.

     In WV, the trolley ran across the Williamstown Bridge to Parkersburg. One stop Pohick sounds Appalachian. It was an early name of Henderson Hall plantation. Pohick was an Episcopal church in eastern VA where Alexander Henderson and George Washington were vestrymen. Other stops were mostly street names. Appomatox? Don’t know about that one.

    Be alert. Place names are all around us. Each has a fascinating story behind it.