Streets/Roads/Towns You Once Thought Were Named After Famous People, But Are Not

[Flint1979]

King County, Washington doesn't make any sense considering they changed the origin of the name. In reality King County, Washington is named for William R. King going all the way back to 1852 before Martin Luther King was even alive. Changing the reason that it's named King County in 2005 makes no sense at all. It was not named for Martin Luther King.

[1995hoo]

Until 2005, King County was officially named for Vice President William R. King. It was then switched to honor Martin Luther King Jr. (with his face on the flags and logos of the county).

What the heck?  That's like erasing the history of who the locale was named for.  To me, the question of who a locale was named for is only a question of who the founders had in mind when they chose the name. 

....

It's probably motivated by the fact that William King and his family owned at least 500 slaves, more than almost any other slaveholding family in Alabama.

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."
–George Orwell, 1984

You can't change etymology by claiming that it's something different. It's still named after the first person in reality.

Don't know whether you've read the book. In that world, if you believed what you just said, you would be guilty of thoughtcrime.

Who needs a book for that?  We might laugh at the thought, but I think at least some of us do so with a twinge of suspicion that something like that might be the reality in our society twenty years from now.

....

Twenty years from now? I strongly feel large parts of society are already trending that way. Look at this attitude of ostracizing people who express unpopular opinions, such as on Twitter.

[kphoger]

Twenty years from now? I strongly feel large parts of society are already trending that way. Look at this attitude of ostracizing people who express unpopular opinions, such as on Twitter.

I think this topic drift is only two steps away from diving into politics, so let's tread lightly.  But the reason I didn't type that is that Twitter is not the same as the government.  But I can imagine the nebulous term "hate speech" continuing to grow larger and larger, to the point that something like claiming King County was not named after MLK Jr could be considered hate speech.  Or, perhaps more likely, a politician being asked to resign from his or her office for such a claim.

[1995hoo]

Twenty years from now? I strongly feel large parts of society are already trending that way. Look at this attitude of ostracizing people who express unpopular opinions, such as on Twitter.

I think this topic drift is only two steps away from diving into politics, so let's tread lightly.  But the reason I didn't type that is that Twitter is not the same as the government.  But I can imagine the nebulous term "hate speech" continuing to grow larger and larger, to the point that something like claiming King County was not named after MLK Jr could be considered hate speech.  Or, perhaps more likely, a politician being asked to resign from his or her office for such a claim.

What you're saying is more or less why I quoted the novel in the first place. You said, "That's like erasing the history of who the locale was named for." That sort of thing is exactly what the Party did in 1984, and indeed it's what Winston Smith's job was–rewriting historical documents, primarily to remove references to "unpersons" who were disfavored by the Party.

[1995hoo]

BTW, current events prompt me to remember a colleague with whom I worked 25 years ago who heard the name of a city in Virginia that is named after its founder, John Lynch. He didn't know anything about the city's history and assumed it was named for an unsavory form of extrajudicial murder that was once frequent in parts of the South.

[kphoger]

BTW, current events prompt me to remember a colleague with whom I worked 25 years ago who heard the name of a city in Virginia that is named after its founder, John Lynch. He didn't know anything about the city's history and assumed it was named for an unsavory form of extrajudicial murder that was once frequent in parts of the South.

That was a reasonable assumption to make, considering that John Lynch was the brother of William Lynch, to whom is commonly ascribed the etymology of "lynching".

[1995hoo]

BTW, current events prompt me to remember a colleague with whom I worked 25 years ago who heard the name of a city in Virginia that is named after its founder, John Lynch. He didn't know anything about the city's history and assumed it was named for an unsavory form of extrajudicial murder that was once frequent in parts of the South.

That was a reasonable assumption to make, considering that John Lynch was the brother of William Lynch, to whom is commonly ascribed the etymology of "lynching".

I thought the word was attributed to Judge Charles Lynch (who was John Lynch's brother, to be sure). But I highly doubt my colleague had heard of any of those people.

[kphoger]

BTW, current events prompt me to remember a colleague with whom I worked 25 years ago who heard the name of a city in Virginia that is named after its founder, John Lynch. He didn't know anything about the city's history and assumed it was named for an unsavory form of extrajudicial murder that was once frequent in parts of the South.

That was a reasonable assumption to make, considering that John Lynch was the brother of William Lynch, to whom is commonly ascribed the etymology of "lynching".

I thought the word was attributed to Judge Charles Lynch (who was John Lynch's brother, to be sure). But I highly doubt my colleague had heard of any of those people.

Yep, I typed the wrong first name.  William claimed to have also coined the term, but it was Charles' use of it that probably led to its popularity.

[webny99]

So, essentially, nothing changes, but you must now believe it's named after a different person?
That strikes me as completely illogical. Psychotic, almost.

I take it you've never read 1984. Find a summary of it online (even Wikipedia would probably do). You obviously get the point, though it sounds like you aren't familiar with the novel.

No, I hadn't. I looked up both the Wikipedia page and the Spark Notes (memories of my school days!). Doesn't strike me as my kind of literature at all, but certainly interesting context for this discussion. In some ways, it seems likely to get more pertinent over time, I would say it certainly has done even over the past 3 months or so.

[hbelkins]

Going back to street names, I know very well the name of this street near us has nothing to do with a certain US president, but I still get a kick out of it and I wonder how many people who go house-hunting bypass that street just because of its name (seriously, I'm sure there are people who do that):

https://goo.gl/maps/iAY2YWwkJcaJpqcDA

Or here...

2017 WV route-clinching trip Day 4 - 018 by H.B. Elkins, on Flickr

[1995hoo]

Or in Canton, Ohio:

[STLmapboy]

In Butte, MT, Elizabeth Warren Drive is named after an early-20th-century socialite who was important in the town's history: https://mtstandard.com/news/local/mining-city-history-who-was-elizabeth-warren/article_5b6e4754-0739-5a1c-95b0-a563ed42297f.html.
Interesting story, too. I can't think of two things quite as different as the MA senator and Montana.

[KeithE4Phx]

Until 2005, King County was officially named for Vice President William R. King. It was then switched to honor Martin Luther King Jr. (with his face on the flags and logos of the county).

William R. King had nothing to do with anything in the Pacific Northwest that I'm aware of.  Not only that, but his term as VP lasted about a month.  He was already dying of Tuberculosis when he was nominated as Franklin Pierce's running mate in 1852.  He died in April 1853 after being sworn in in Havana.

Also, he and James Buchanan, Pierce's successor, were... let's say... "more than just friends."  They had shared a house together for over a decade, attended social functions together, and had intended to run for President/VP as a team in 1852.  The Democratic Party bosses apparenly liked King but not Buchanan. 

By the surviving comments of the day, they were Washington's first prominent openly gay couple -- something Buchanan never really denied -- although there was no non-insulting term for such a relationship in the mid 19th century.  They were called "Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy," "Buchanan and his wife," "King and his better half," and other equally unflattering terms. 

So it turns out that King was (briefly) our first gay VP and Buchanan was our first gay President, although his failures in office had nothing to do with his orientation.

[KeithE4Phx]

There are two streets named Lincoln in Phoenix AZ.  The first one, Lincoln St., which runs east and west at 600 South, on the south edge of downtown, was named for Honest Abe. 

The second, Lincoln Dr., also runs east and west, but as an extension of Glendale Ave. beginning at 22nd St. running through Paradise Valley and Scottsdale.  It is at 6500 North.  It was named after businessman & philanthropist John C. Lincoln (1866-1959), who funded two hospitals in Phoenix, one of which is named after him.  He and his wife had moved to Phoenix in 1931, due to his wife's Tuberculosis.

[kphoger]

"King and his better half," and other equally unflattering terms. 

How is that any less flattering than calling my wife and me "Kyle and his better half"?

[webny99]

"King and his better half," and other equally unflattering terms. 

How is that any less flattering than calling my wife and me "Kyle and his better half"?

"My better half" is a very common saying used by people to refer to their significant other. Never thought of it as particularly unflattering.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I still have to remind myself that anything named Pearson in real life (i.e. not in my maps) isn't named so after a rare mitochondrial syndrome.

Then there's North Hitler Street in Kimmell, Indiana. One may wonder why it still has that name, but I recall reading long ago it is named after one of the early settlers of the area, not after who you think.

[kphoger]

Then there's North Hitler Street in Kimmell, Indiana. One may wonder why it still has that name, but I recall reading long ago it is named after one of the early settlers of the area, not after who you think.

This man?

[KeithE4Phx]

"King and his better half," and other equally unflattering terms. 

How is that any less flattering than calling my wife and me "Kyle and his better half"?

We're not talking about an average husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend.  We're talking about two middle-aged men in an open "intimate relationship," in an era that wasn't exactly tolerant of homosexuals (the term wasn't even coined until later in the 19th century).  I have to assume that it was different among Washington politicos, or they just dealt with it because of Buchanan's and King's stature.

[webny99]

(the term wasn't even coined until later in the 19th century).

Not sure about that... It seems to have been first used in 1580, although originally it was not restricted to spouses and could also refer to a good friend.

[KeithE4Phx]

(the term wasn't even coined until later in the 19th century).

Not sure about that... It seems to have been first used in 1580, although originally it was not restricted to spouses and could also refer to a good friend.

I was referring to "homosexual," not "better half," although I'm surprised that term goes back that far.

[M3100]

How about Chevy Chase, MD (just outside of Washington DC).  There is also a street by that name in Pasadena, CA.

And not quite the same thing, but there are two intersections that share the names of actors in So Cal:  Gregory/Peck  (Beverly Hills area) and Antonio/Banderas (Orange County, I think near Rancho Santa Margarita)

[KeithE4Phx]

How about Chevy Chase, MD (just outside of Washington DC).  There is also a street by that name in Pasadena, CA.

And not quite the same thing, but there are two intersections that share the names of actors in So Cal:  Gregory/Peck  (Beverly Hills area) and Antonio/Banderas (Orange County, I think near Rancho Santa Margarita) 

Metro Phoenix has two intersections that share the name of former NFL players:  Tatum/Bell (Denver Broncos, 2004-06, '08, Detroit Lions, 2007) in Phoenix, and Gilbert/Brown (Green Bay Packers, 1993-2003) in Mesa.

[hbelkins]

How about Chevy Chase, MD (just outside of Washington DC).  There is also a street by that name in Pasadena, CA.

And not quite the same thing, but there are two intersections that share the names of actors in So Cal:  Gregory/Peck  (Beverly Hills area) and Antonio/Banderas (Orange County, I think near Rancho Santa Margarita)

And the Chevy Chase neighborhood in Lexington, Ky., just east of UK.

[KCRoadFan]

As for what H. B. Elkins said about King Street and MLK, I'm reminded of Madison, WI, where there is *both* a King Street and an MLK Boulevard. (Interestingly enough, both streets branch off of Capitol Square, and thus are within mere blocks of one another.)