There could be a lot
BY KYLE LOVERN
What’s in a name?
Most of you may know that Mingo County is named for an Indian tribe while neighboring Logan County was named for the Chief of that tribe. But what about some other area towns and villages?
Martin County was founded in 1870 and is named for Congressman John Preston Martin.
In Martin County, there are the towns of Lovely and Beauty. No doubt these names came from the early inhabitants who saw the scenic beauty of those areas. Of course, those that know local history know that Beauty was first known as Himlerville, named for the founding father Martin Himler, a Hungarian native.
Lovely was actually the name of one of the town’s early merchants, Samuel Dorsey Lovely.
Many think Warfield was named over a battle of the Civil War. But Wikipedia states the small town along the Tug River developed in the early 1850s after a salt works was established by George Rogers Clark Floyd and John Warfield of Virginia.
How about the county seat of Martin County — Inez? According to Wikipedia, James Ward first settled the area about 1810; originally, it was named Ward’s Bottom. J.M. Stepp renamed it Eden in 1873. As there was already a post office named Eden, Kentucky, the local postmaster was obliged to rename the town June 23, 1874. The name is usually held to have been derived from that of Inez Frank, the daughter of Louisa’s postmaster in neighboring Lawrence County.
Huntleyville, along Route 292 and the Tug River heading toward the Pike County line, has an interesting origin. There is actually a historical marker there that tells you about how that stretch became known as Huntleyville. “So named after Chet Huntley, a former NBC News Correspondent and part of NBC’s ‘Huntley-Brinkley Report’ team, whose publicity in 1965 aided a small group of Eastern Kentuckians in building a badly needed road which is known by some as the Huntley-Brinkley road.” The old road was dirt and during heavy rains was nothing but mud and ruts. The news story led to the road being worked on and eventually paved with asphalt.
Kermit was not named for the famous frog on the children’s television show “Sesame Street,” but after Kermit Roosevelt, the son of former President Theodore Roosevelt.
Nearby Williamson, W.Va., was named for its early founder Wallace J. Williamson.
If you tell someone you’re going to Canada, they probably think you will be heading to the “Great White North” and the land of our neighbors at the northern border. But in reality, you could be going to the small hamlet of Canada in Pike County.
Or, you could tell them you are going to visit a friend in Sidney. Their first thought would be the land Down Under of Australia. But it’s actually another small community in Pike County.
The Tug Valley area has many unusual names. Many come from our rich historical background and some from our Native American roots.
Here are some funny town names from Kentucky. There is Hippo in nearby Floyd County. A couple of other comical ones are Booger Branch and Rabbit Hash. There is Possum Trot in Marshall County and Pig in Edmonson County.
West Virginia is not without unusual or funny town names. Here are just a few. There is Joker, which I don’t think was named after the villain in Batman comic books. There is also Scrabble, but I don’t think it was named for the popular board game. The Mountain State also has Pancake and Cucumber, along with Pie (in Mingo County).
One of my favorites is Poca, and the nickname for the high school mascot there is the Dots. That is one of the most unusual mascot names in the world.
Another one of my favorite community names in West Virginia is Big Ugly. Now newspapers could have a lot of fun with making a headline out of someone arrested from there. Like “Big Ugly man arrested for streaking.”
So what’s in a name? When it comes to towns, villages, hollows and other communities, the name can mean a lot or have historical beginnings.
Most inhabitants of these towns have a lot of pride in their community. Many of the old high schools were named for the towns. Thus there was a lot of pride in the mascot, and fans wore the school colors proudly.
It can be interesting to research and learn about how your town got its name.
Many towns have a story, and their name has some historical origin. Do you know yours?
(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist.)