Calling America

21 December 2007

Fascinated by place names

Posted under places beginning with: Site News; C; E; L; M; Iowa; Correctionville; Maine; Mechanic Falls; Illinois; Energy; New Mexico; Loving .

To all visitors and readers of Calling America: keep sending us your stories! It’s a real privilege to read your entries and since the Christmas break is now in full swing, it means more free time to sit down, gaze into your past and pull out a tale. Why not write something about places, people and events you’ve been involved in or if you don’t like to write, what about sharing a photo story, a single image or a series of images, you could even send us a video! It’s the season to be creative and we wish you all a merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!

Part of the preparation and ongoing research into the Calling America project led me to discover an incredible book called The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. Edited by Saul Cohen and published by Columbia University Press, this is the definitive encyclopedia of geographical places and feature information on North America. In short, it’s one long list of all the place names in the US.

I was sitting in the British Library not so long ago leafing through the pages of this book searching for information on a particular place and I couldn’t help but stop at names that seemed to jump out at me. It was really just instinct and curiosity at first, but after a while I put my initial purpose for consulting that book on hold and began to make a list of all these curious names. Patterns started to emerge: most of the names were of small towns, often just villages, and obviously places I’d never heard of before, but more importantly all of the names had evocative qualities to them - at least to my eyes that is. The names conjured mental images and I began to imagine what these places would look like, what sort of people live there and what the history might be.

Some personal favourites amongst this list are: Correctionville, Iowa; Mechanic Falls, Maine; Energy, Illinois and Loving, New Mexico. What I’d like to know, in amongst other things, is what effect have these names had over local residents? Has it changed the way they think about the town, are they proud or embarrassed by the place name? Was it the name of the town that attracted them there in the first place?

I’ve transcribed this list of names and posted it here in the hope that someone recognizes one of this places and feels inclined to tell us something about it. It would be truly amazing to read a story or even just a simple description about one of these places; and even if all the names are unfamiliar to you, it would be interesting to hear your impressions and reactions. So it’s an open invitation, you can submit reactions via the usual story form or email them to us if you prefer or you can leave comments here. Perhaps you have photos to share or a video to show … I’ll leave it up to you.

Alabama: Eclectic,

Arizona: Carefree, Snowflake, Arizona

Arkansas: Star City, Smackover, Palestine

California: Hollywood By The Sea

Connecticut: Lebanon, Mystic

Colorado: Dinosaur, Romeo, Mc Cool

Delaware: Slaughter Beach

Florida: Treasure Island

Georgia: Between, Ideal, Social Circle

Idaho: Potlach, Atomic City

Illinois: Creve Coeur, Equality, Normal, Energy

Indiana: Economy, French Lick, Mecca

Iowa: Blue Grass, Correctionville, Soldier, What Cheer

Kansas: Kismet

Kentucky: Jeff

Louisiana: Ball, Angie, Dry Prong, Grosse Tete, Sun, Louisiana

Maine: China, Mechanic Falls

Maryland: Accident

Massachusetts: Egypt

Michigan: Hell

Minnesota: Embarass (thanks to Zac)

Missouri: Peculiar

Montana: Lolo, Rocker

Nebraska: Boys Town, Weeping Water, Republican City

New Hampshire: Stark

New Mexico: Truth or Consequences, Loving

New York State: Catskill

North Carolina: Seven Devils, Turkey

North Dakota: Voltaire

Ohio: Empire, Republic

Oklahoma: Pink, Canadian, Disney, Freedom, Oklahoma, Lone Wolf, Loco, Mutual

Oregon: Sublimity

South Dakota: Blunt, Tea, Wounded Knee

Tennessee: Dresden, Hermitage

Texas: Crystal City, Early, Earth, Gun Barrel City, Hedwig Village, Prairie Dog Town Fork of Red River, Uncertain

Utah: Bacchus

Vermont: South Hero

Virginia: Big Stone Gap, Hurt, Wise

Washington: Othello

West Virginia: Nitro, Smithers

Wisconsin: Friendship, Luck, Wisconsin, Marathon

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