A CLASSIFICATION OF OHIO PLACE-NAMES
by WILLIAM
COYLE
Associate Professor of English,
Wittenberg College
For the academic mind classification is
an occupational disease.
But sifting data into logical
categories is a harmless, though
pedestrian, form of mental
exercitation, which may possess a certain
value in suggesting new approaches to
the data or in providing a
framework for systematic examination
and discussion. Although the
full story behind each Ohio place-name
has disappeared with the
generation that chose it, enough
information exists to suggest
schematic differentiation.
An initial difficulty in the
classification process is finding a
fundamentum divisionis, a basis for division, which groups all
names with a minimum of overlapping.
Function, often a useful
standard, has no value here; for all
names have one ultimate func-
tion-identification. Although
interesting, etymological origin lacks
significance, because most Ohio
place-names are derived from
terms which have a long linguistic
history intervening between
their origin and their use in Ohio.
Chronological classification has
no real efficacy, for most Ohio
localities were named within a rela-
tively brief period. The methods of
selection, ranging from the toss
of a coin to the fiat of a postal
official, likewise lack consistent
relevance.
Although it has certain limitations,
there remains a basis for
division which embraces yet
differentiates Ohio place-names. Names
are bestowed by human beings, and in
any human activity one
can expect to find diversified motives.
The reasons underlying the
choice of most place-names have deep
roots in human nature.
Despite meager and contradictory
information, Ohio names seem,
on the basis of the probable motivation
prompting their selection,
to fall into four broad classes:
I. COMMEMORATIVE: individuals,
groups, places
II. ASSOCIATIVE: nostalgic,
exotic, Biblical
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III. DESCRIPTIVE: English, other languages
IV. ECCENTRIC
Man's desire to perpetuate a memory is
universal. It is, in a
sense, a challenge to time, a defiance
of oblivion. Commemorative
names were bestowed as tributes to
worthy individuals, groups, or
places. Those honoring individuals are
by far the most numerous.
Hero worship is a familiar human
phenomenon, most common,
perhaps, in a democracy. Certainly it
is characteristic of youth; and
most Ohio settlements were named during
America's youthful
years. In the first half of the
nineteenth century, the founders of
the republic acquired legendary
qualities, and Americans looked
back to an age of Titans. Although many
insignificant men have
been memorialized, great figures of the
American past have re-
ceived their due, and Ohioans have
heeded the Biblical counsel
to praise famous men.
The predominance of individualized
commemoration is shown
by the fifty-one counties which bear
the names of more or less
illustrious men. That thirty of these
names belong to military or
naval annals was partly due to the high
proportion of veterans
among early settlers and partly due to
the vital importance of the
conflicts with the French, the Indians,
and the British in bringing
security and peace to the region.
Doubtless, too, landowners were
aware of the appeal to prospective
settlers of a storied name like
Perry, Wayne, or Washington. The latter
was a favorite choice,
lending his name to forty-four
townships; the runners-up among
townships are Perry (26), Wayne (22),
and Franklin (22). Some-
times a fort named for an officer
furnished the name for the subse-
quent community on its site. A few
communities (e.g., Eaton,
Findlay, Harmar, Harrison, Lafayette,
Marion, Ripley, Steuben-
ville, and Wooster) further illustrate
the commemoration of military
heroes.
Paulding, Van Wert, and Williams
counties, named for the
captors of Major Andre, are a minor
mystery in Ohio nomenclature.
Their apprehension of Andre was largely
accidental; he may have
revealed his identity because he
mistook them for Loyalists. The
A Classification of Ohio
Place-Names 275
best explanation for the county names
seems to be that after his
death Andre became a romantic legend.
His courtesy and courage;
his being ignominiously hanged although
Arnold, the master plotter,
escaped; and rumors of an unhappy love
affair cast a glow of
martyrdom over Andre's story.
The political arena also has furnished
a large stock of com-
memorative names. The presidents of the
United States from
Washington to William Henry Harrison
can be found in the Ohio
gazetteers. The governors so honored
(some before reaching the
gubernatorial chair) include Dennison,
Lucas, McArthur, Morrow,
Tiffin, and Worthington. Meigs County
and the village of Wickliffe
were named for postmasters general.
Knox County honors Wash-
ington's secretary of war. Wilmot was
named as a tribute to the
Pennsylvania congressman who drew up
the famous proviso. The
naming of Ross County expressed support
of the 1798 campaign of
James Ross for the governorship of
Pennsylvania; Ross was un-
successful, as was Samuel F. Vinton in
Ohio over half a century
later, although he also inspired a
county name.
Except for Garfield Heights, no Ohio
locality of any consequence
honors an Ohioan who has reached
prominence since the Civil War.
This apparent indifference to her
eminent native sons is a result
of Ohio's rapid growth. Because most
promising sites were platted
and named in the first half of the
nineteenth century, Grant,
Sherman, Sheridan, Hayes, Benjamin
Harrison, McKinley, Taft,
Harding, Edison, and other latter-day
notables are not represented
by place-names. Several, however, are
favorite choices for more
recent developments such as roads,
schools, and parks.
Many settlements were named for
landowners, founders, or promi-
nent citizens of the communities.
Sometimes the choice was dictated
by the bearer of the name or by a
member of his family (e.g.,
Chardon, Olmsted). But convenience was
probably a more common
reason than self-glorification,
particularly when a local utility
like a tavern or a mill preceded the
settlement (e.g., Gates Mills,
Martins Ferry). The apostrophe
ordinarily disappears in such com-
binations. Although Cleveland and
Dayton belong in this category,
most communities so named are small
(e.g., Cable, Caldwell, Carey,
Gutman, Hubbard, Hudson, Kinsman,
Struthers, Wadsworth).
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When the simple family name was not
euphonic, -ville was the
favorite combining form (e.g.,
Haydenville, Hayesville, Hicksville,
Nelsonville, Painesville, Sedamsville,
Stoutsville). Variant forms of
-burg and -town were also common (e.g.,
Austinburg, Leavittsburg,
Rainsborough, Streetsboro, Swanktown).
Besides military, political, and local
figures, various other types
of men have been commemorated by
place-names. That surveyors
were persons of consequence in a new
region is illustrated by
Warren, named for one of Moses
Cleaveland's surveying crew, and
Mansfield, named for the surveyor
general of the United States.
Ostrander, Bourneville, and Newman's
Creek also bear the names
of surveyors. Euclid was a surveyor's
tribute to his ideal mathe-
matician.
In more recent years industries and
railroads have determined
the prosperity, if not the actual
existence, of some towns. Addystown,
Barberton, Campbell, Hooven, and
Wellston were named for indus-
trialists. Buckland, Kent, Madeira, and
Willard were named for
railway officials.
A rather surprising number of
localities have been named for
individual Indians (e.g., Big Darby,
Charloe, Killbuck, Lewis-
town, Logan, Oceola, Roundhead,
Wapakoneta, and Wauseon).
Tecumseh, probably the ablest of the
Indian leaders, has not been
commemorated in any significant way.
In choosing place-names, Ohioans have
generally singled out
individuals rather than groups. Shaker
Heights, however, represents
the socio-religious colony once
flourishing there. Indian tribes have
furnished the largest number of group
names (e.g., Delaware, Erie,
Huron, Miami, Ottawa, Seneca, and
Wyandot counties). Generally
speaking, such names became popular
when the Indian was still
a vivid memory but no longer a menace.
The largest city commemorating a group
was named for the
Order of the Cincinnati, an honorary
society of Revolutionary of-
ficers. Arthur St. Clair, who was a
prominent member of the order,
was directly responsible for the city's
name. The order itself was
named for Cincinnatus, who left his
plow to lead the Roman army
but returned to his farm with the
coming of peace. In a roundabout
way the name was a tribute to
Washington. More than any better-
A Classification of Ohio
Place-Names 277
known ancient hero, Cincinnatus
symbolized the simplicity and self-
sacrifice of Washington, the ideal
citizen-soldier.
The few names which honor places of
significance commemorate
indirectly some related event or
person. Lexington, of course, com-
memorates the battle of the Revolution.
The village of Salem
changed its name to Shiloh shortly
after Grant's victory. Ashland,
named for Henry Clay's estate near
Lexington, suggests the Whig
strength in Ohio. Mount Vernon was a
tribute to Washington.
II
A name is more than a combination of
letters signifying a pattern
of sounds. With the passing of time it
acquires a connotation, a
suggestive coloring. Associative names
are those which seemingly
were chosen for their inherent
evocations.
The largest associative group comprises
names transferred from
the settlers' former homes. Sojourners
in the new region naturally
felt a nostalgic desire to preserve
some token of the community
from which they came. Some names (e.g.,
Belfort, Cheviot, Geneva,
Kendal, Londonderry, Toronto,
Winesburg) represent points of
origin beyond the United States. More
often newcomers seized a
real or fancied resemblance to the
place left behind in the East
as an excuse for clinging to the
familiar name. A dual impulsion
operated here: a settler chose a site
because it resembled his former
home, and he called it by the old name
because of the resemblance.
Although New England names are common
in the Western Reserve,
while Virginia and Kentucky names
prevail in southern Ohio, there
is no exclusive distribution on a
regional basis. Maine, Massachu-
setts, Vermont, Connecticut, New
Hampshire, New York, Penn-
sylvania, Maryland, New Jersey,
Kentucky, Virginia, and North
Carolina are represented in that order
by Maineville, Deerfield,
West Windsor, Greenwich, Amherst,
Albany, Lancaster, Cambridge,
Newark, Bowling Green, Portsmouth, and
Wilmington. The wide
range of sources indicates the
diversified nature of Ohio's settlement.
The promising new territory was a
melting pot from the start, as
emigrants from the seaboard converged
on it.
Other associative names, which bear no
clear relation to settlers'
everyday lives, are exotic in the sense
of being foreign or strange.
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Although such names are common in the
Midwest, Ohio seems to
have more than its share. Motives can
be discerned behind a few
exotic names. Malta derives from a
resident's pleasant visit to that
island. Ravenna suggests an admiration
for Dante. Several names
(e.g., Corsica, Elba, Helena, Napoleon,
Waterloo) seem, in a
sense, commemorative. Of the classical
names (e.g., Athens, Attica,
Castalia, Ithaca, Macedonia, Marathon,
Sparta, Syracuse, and Utica;
Scipio and Aurelius townships), some
arrived by way of New York
state. Troy and Rome were most popular,
furnishing names respec-
tively for seven and three townships.
The enthusiasm for Greece
and Rome, best exemplified in Thomas
Jefferson, was a late mani-
festation of the neo-classical spirit
and is a partial explanation of
such names.
But most exotic names are more
difficult to explain. Although
several legends exist regarding Toledo
and Lima, the largest cities
in this group, the true story behind
each name remains shrouded
in conjecture. Euphony was doubtless a
consideration, for names
like Damascus, Delhi, Ganges, Havana,
Iberia, and Peru sound
trippingly on the tongue. Novelty was
also important, and local
residents thumbed gazetteers to
discover a name which would be
unique on this continent. Also,
however, one senses behind names
like Congo, Lisbon, Moscow, Orient,
Russia, Seville, Siam, Tokio,
and Warsaw the wistfulness, the longing
for distant horizons, which
originally brought many settlers into
the state.
The clergyman responsible for naming
Lima is said to have
been disappointed by the residents'
refusal to adopt the long "e"
pronunciation. Ohioans generally have
shown a healthy disregard
for foreign pronunciation. Europeans
may wince on hearing the
Ohio version of Versailles or Milan,
but the Americanization of
foreign words is a normal process.
Bellefontaine is an interesting
variation, for meaning rather than
spelling governs pronunciation.
Of the relatively few associative names
borrowed from the Bible,
several were transplantations from
eastern states. A few like Enon
(place of springs), Zoar (place of
refuge), or Rehoboth (spacious-
ness) have descriptive significance.
But their pleasing sounds, their
familiarity, and their pious
connotations account for names like
Goshen, Hebron, Jerusalem, Lebanon,
Palestine, Sharon, and Sinai.
A Classification of Ohio
Place-Names 279
III
Names in the third category are
representational of some local
feature, permanent or temporary,
physical or abstract. Some derive
from outward appearance (e.g., Plain
City, Yellow Springs); others
describe the location of a community
(e.g., Crestline, Middletown,
North Bend, South Point, Summit). Still
others, like Fairfield and
Richland counties, are general, tending
toward the abstract. Union
County describes its formation from
four other counties. Alliance
refers to the junction of two
railroads. Defiance and Fort Recovery
describe phases of military operations.
Antiquity, Circleville, and
Moundsville derive from relics of a
former civilization. Optimistic
or patriotic abstractions of a
descriptive nature include township
names like Union (in 28 counties),
Liberty (25), Pleasant (15),
Harmony, Freedom, and Unity, as well as
town names like Inde-
pendence, Mutual, and Mount Union. Many
road names fall into
this category, notably clumsy
combinations which describe the
termini (e.g., Springfield-North
Hampton Road, Ravenna-Warren
Road). Streams and lakes also often
have descriptive names (e.g.,
Clear Creek, Crooked Creek, Muddy Lake,
Rocky River, Sandy
Lake).
Many descriptive names are literal
(e.g., Lakewood, Maple
Heights, Springfield, Westlake). A few
are out-of-the-ordinary
(e.g., Carryal Township, named for a
rock resembling a sleigh;
Lockland, named for the numerous locks
of the Miami and Erie
Canal; Mad River, named for its mad
plunging along a seemingly
level course; Paint Creek and Vermilion
Creek, named for the clay
along their banks, which was used by
Indians); but most are
prosaic and unimaginative.
Most names which have been borrowed or
retained from other
languages have a descriptive basis. The
settlers, understandably,
kept few French names; and later
adoptions (e.g., Belmont, Cham-
paign, and Clermont counties) may have
been borrowed as proper
names. Akron (a high place), Kalida
(beautiful), Lithopolis (city
of stone), and Xenia (friendship) are
descriptive names from
Greek. Urbana describes that
community's early aspirations; it may
have been clipped from urbanity, or it
may have come directly
from the division of Roman citizens
into plebs rustica and plebs
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urbana. Gallipolis combines two languages to recall the
ill-starred
emigrants to that community. Ohioans
generally avoided the awk-
ward -opolis and -adelphia formations,
which were more popular
farther west.
Of the non-English languages, Indian
dialects have furnished
the largest number of place-names, most
of them originally descrip-
tive. Here confusion is piled on
contradiction. A resident of Con-
neaut, for example, may decide for
himself whether that name
means snow place, many fish, or it is a
long time since they have
gone. Coshocton may mean black bear
town or union of waters;
Muskingum, by the river's edge or an
elk's eye. One reason for
this chaos is that most Indian names
are phonetic representations
of the way Indian words sounded to
unaccustomed ears. Some, like
Sandusky (probably meaning at the cold
water), have been dis-
torted further by an intermediate
French phonetic version. But a
more important reason is that American
linguists pursued con-
ventional patterns of investigation and
neglected the unique op-
portunity of studying a fresh field.
The Indian dialects, seldom
preserved in written records, were
ignored until they had been
corrupted. The result is controversy
over the literal meaning of
almost every place-name derived from
Indian words.
Even the meaning of Ohio is disputed.
The popular idea is that
it means beautiful. Many assume that
the French name, La Belle
Riviere, was a translation of the Iroquois word; Longfellow
gave
wide currency to this notion by
proclaiming it in Evangeline. The
song "Beautiful Ohio" has
strengthened the public's impression.
But psychologically there is much to be
said for the theory that the
word meant large or great. Indian names
were functional rather
than esthetic; they usually identified
a physical feature as exactly
as possible (e.g., Ashtabula, probably
meaning river of many fish;
Auglaize, probably meaning fallen
timbers; Cuyahoga, probably
meaning crooked; Hocking, probably
meaning bottle-shaped; and
Mahoning, probably meaning at the
licks). A hunting party could
be directed accurately to the great
river, but not so surely to the
beautiful river. Perhaps, on the other
hand, such a waterway did not
need minute identification. Like that
of most Indian names, the
A Classification of Ohio
Place-Names 281
meaning of Ohio is in doubt, and the
beautiful river it will remain
to most people.
A few Indian names have given way to
English ones, as Lagonda
Creek has been replaced by Buck Creek,
its English equivalent.
The name describes the course of the
stream, which resembles a
stand of antlers. But most names of
Indian origin are too firmly
implanted in public usage to be
displaced.
IV
Names in the final category have
developed humorously through
incongruity, punning, or downright
tomfoolery. Many rest upon
local legend; Mechanicsburg, for
example, supposedly derived from
Mechanic, a Shawnee maiden's pet name
for one of General Hull's
engineers. There is a touch of drollery
in each of the following
place-names:
Bucyrus-from beautiful and Cyrus the
Persian, a hero of Colonel Kil-
bourne, a founder.
Chagrin River--from the reaction of
Cleaveland's surveyors, who followed
it in the belief that it was the
Cuyahoga.
Chasetown--from the residents'
customary treatment of strangers.
Colerain Township--from the weather on
the day the township was
organized.
Fly--from the residents' desire to have
the shortest name in Ohio.
Mount Healthy--from the town's escape
from a cholera epidemic.
Pee Pee Creek--from the initials P.P.
carved on a nearby tree.
Pitchin-from a tavern keeper's
customary invitation.
Plattsburg-from a surveyor's ironic
inscription on the plat of the unnamed
community.
Vandalia--from Vandalia, Illinois, the
announced terminus of the
National Road, when it appeared
unlikely that the road would extend beyond
the Ohio town.
Widowville--from the number of wives
who lost husbands in the
Civil War.
Statements in the above list range from
the credible to the ridicu-
lous; one hesitates immediately over
accepting Bucyrus, Chagrin,
Colerain, and Plattsburg.
Some commemorative names have a jocose
twist (e.g., Bumtown,
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Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
for the Bumgardner family; Danville,
for Daniel P. March, the
founder; Felicity, for William Fee, the
proprietor; Maxville, for
William McCormick; and Twinsburg, for
the Wilcox twins, who
furnished the site). Although basically
commemorative, towns
named for female relatives also seem to
fit the eccentric classi-
fication (e.g., Amanda, Anna, Aurora,
Cynthiana, Elizabethtown,
Marysville, Minerva, and Olivesburg).
Literature has supplied a few eccentric
choices. Waverly was
named by a surveyor who admired Scott's
novels. Norwood was
supposedly drawn from Henry Ward
Beecher's sole attempt at
novel writing; his rambling account of
a New England village
appeared about a year before the town
was platted. Mount Auburn,
according to legend, was named after an
admirer of Goldsmith's
"Deserted Village" posted a
sign reading "One Mile to Mount
Auburn" and thus ended a
controversy over a new name for Key's
Hill.
Many folk names which were restricted
to local use and seldom
reached the atlases (e.g., Egg Nog
Hill, Hardscrabble, Johnnycake
Hollow, Kate's Bottom, and
Knock-em-stiff) also belong in the
mischievous category of eccentric
names.