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.
