Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Do You Know?


Do you know how many USA place names are related to arts and crafts?

I read a book called “A Place Called Peculiar: Stories About Unusual American Place-Names” by Frank K. Gallant. Merriam-Webster, 1998 recently. He listed some cities with names related to the arts & crafts. He had only so much room to list the most peculiar names, so I had to go dig out my 2003 atlas and see what other ones I could find. .

Here’s the towns listed in Mr. Gallant’s book =
Alaska (AK) = Candle and Circle
Arkansas (AR) = Ink, Inky, Nail, and Stamps
Georgia (GA) = Social Circle
Illinois (IL) = New Design
Louisiana (LA) = Cut Off
Mississippi (MI) = Ecru
Missouri (MO) = Ink
New York (NY) = Painted Post
North Carolina (NC) = Silk Hope
North Dakota (ND) = Concrete
Ohio (OH) = Charm and Novelty
Texas (TX) = Grayburg
Vermont (VT) = Chiselville
Virginia (VI) = Dot and Triangle
Washington (WA) = Beaux Arts

And the ones I found (2 to 3 from each state) =
Alabama (AL) = Greenville and Paint Rock
Arizona (AR) = Apron Crossing, Greenspot, Rare Metals, and Tanners Crossing
Arkansas (AR) = Magazine and Stamps
California (CA) = Button-Willow and Needles
Colorado (CO) = Brush, Dolores, and Marble
Connecticut (CT) = Mechanicsville and Mixville
Delaware (DE) = Carpenters Corner and Taylors Corner
Florida (FL) = Golden Gate and Greenacres
Georgia (GA) = Copperhill and Lumber City
Hawaii (HI) = Pearl City
Idaho (ID) = Filer and McCall
Illinois (IL) = Clay City, Industry, and Vermilion
Indiana (IN) = Mulberry, Poseyville, and Spiceland
Iowa (IA) = Glidden, Marble Rock, and Walnut
Kansas (KS) = Bazaar, Lone Star, Monument, and Potter
Kentucky (KY) = Fleming-Neon, Paintsville, Stamping Ground, Wheelwright, and Woodburn
Louisiana (LA) = Cottonport and Red River
Maine (ME) = Grindstone, Slab City, and Wilsons Mill
Maryland (MD) = Furnace Branch Bus and Putty Hill
Massachusetts (MA) = Blackstone, Carver, Marblehead, Sterling
Michigan (MI) = Alabaster, Coopersville, Inkster, Sawyer
Minnesota (MN) = Brushvale and Black Hammer
Mississippi (MS) = Ecru, Golden, Ruleville, Wool Market
Missouri (MO) = Cardwell, Chamois, Diamond, Irondale, & Leadwood
Montana (MT) = Electric, Goldstone, Lustre, Miller Colony, Stryker, Sweetgrass
Nebraska (NE) = Silver Creek, Steele City, Sterling, Table Rock
Nevada (NV) = Blue Diamond, Fitting, Pyramid
New Hampshire (NH) = Bow Mills, Five Corners, Goose Hollow
New Jersey (NJ) = Jersey City, Milltown, Yardville
New Mexico (NM) = Cotton City and Pie Town
New York (NY) = Brushton, Cooperstown, Copenhagen, Painted Post
North Carolina (NC) = Brasstown, Clayton, Coats, Marble
North Dakota (ND) = Crystal, Dazey, Inkster, Sawyer, Taylor
Ohio (OH) = Boardman, Circleville, Cherry Fork
Oklahoma (OK) = Amber, Big Cabin, Broken Arrow, Marble City, Pink
Oregon (OR) = Mill City, Paisley, Pendleton
Pennsylvania (PA) = Cherry Valley, Garden View, Old Forge, Paint, Picture Rocks, Wampum
Rhode Island (RI) = Arkwright and Potter Hill
South Carolina (SC) = Cottageville, Goose Creek, Holly Hill, Ruby, Silverstreet
South Dakota (SD) = Draper and Vermillion
Tennessee (TN) = Brush Creek, Center Star, Crooked Creek, Ivory, Lovelace, Yellow Creek
Texas (TX) = Argyle, China, Cut And Shoot, Goldsmith, Lone Star, Paint Rock
Utah (UT) = American Fork and Orangeville
Vermont (VT) = Lower Waterford, The Four Corners, Tinmouth, Wrightsville
Virginia (VA) = Columbia Furnace, Flat Iron, Ladysmith, Paint Bank
Washington (WA) = Cashmere, La Center, Lacey, Mats Mats
West Virginia (WV) = Acme, Calico, Cameo, Red Jacket
Wisconsin (WI) = Butternut, Hazel Green, Spring Green, Star Prairie
Wyoming (WY) = Carpenter, Saddlestring, and Wright

Some of these towns sounded like quilt pattern names. I noticed a lot of woodworking, masonry, and metalsmithing city names. Very few needleworking names. Lots of colorful names. And a few brand names here and there.

1 comment:

  1. What an interesting post! Social Circle, GA is best known for a fabulous Southern mansion restaurant called The Blue Willow. You can read about it here:
    http://www.bluewillowinn.com/
    John is home from surgery. My post about it is on Monday's blog.

    ReplyDelete

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