Wanda Willis is a Hoosier Folklorist and Historian who contributes to SouthernIN.com and also makes regular appearances at the Indianapolis Public Library System.
What's in A Name?
By Wanda L. Willis

Have you ever wondered where your city got its name? Names were borrowed from other places, famous people or settlers. Historical events, American Indian names and words were also used. Quite often they were randomly chosen from books, especially the Bible. Many place names are unimaginative.

There are narratives explaining the origin for most of the unusual names. These intriguing accounts are legends often believed and may or may not be based in fact. If there'd been some truth in the beginning, through years of retelling today they're more legend than fact.

Let's begin exploring a few of these Hoosier place names. If you're curious about your own home place please send a query to the editors and I will try to give you an answer.

There are several legends surrounding Brown County villages. One story about Gnaw Bone states the Hawkins family had built a store and sawmill there. When one man asked another if he had seen Hawkins, the latter replied, "I seed him settin' on a log above the sawmill gnawin' a bone." An educated guess, or perhaps legend of the educated, is that French settlers named the town for a French city, Narbonne. Through time it became pronounced and spelled Gnaw Bone.

Peoga [pee-O-guh] (Brown) also has an interesting story. The origin of the name is uncertain, but some villagers claim it's a Native American word for "village." According to local legend, however, the name comes from a holler a farmer used every morning to call his hogs.

Doc Jesse Isaacs was acting postmaster in the Jackson County community of Surprise and is supposedly responsible for its name. As the story goes he expressed his surprise that the village got a railroad through it and a post office - hence, the name.

Some Owen County folk jokingly refer to Cunot [KYOO-naht] as Needmore because "We need more houses in order to make a town." Nonetheless, Cunot is the official name and according to oral tradition this came about because of a winding road running through it with a Q-shaped turn.

Monroe City (Knox), the "City of Three Names", originally was known as Nashville and later was called Lovely Dale and finally Monroe City for a prosperous family.

An anecdote in a Posey County history explains the naming of West Franklin. "The town was named West Franklin . . . to distinguish it from a man living near named East Franklin." Believe it or not.

A village near present day Eureka (Spencer) was named French Island City for the nearby Ohio River island. Eventually French Island City was dropped. So how did it get the name of Eureka? According to a local legend early settlers were looking for a tract of land opposite French Island. A watchman sighted the island at dawn and shouted "Eureka!", which became the name of the settlement. It's as good a story as any.

Starlight (Clark) was named for a bright lamp in a local general store. The lamp was called a "new star in the settlement," or so the story goes.

What about Daylight (Vanderburgh)? This community was named for a remark made by a railroad engineer. Each evening when he dropped off a construction crew he said, "I'll pick you men up at daylight."

Hope you enjoyed this sampling.


All Feature Articles, artwork and photographs ©2001 by Dervish Design. Some information on the 'County Info' pages is taken directly from brochures published by Visitors Bureaus and Chambers of Commerce.