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A
highway engineer in Nacogdoches County once told me that keeping a highway sign
at Looneyville was
an exercise in futility. "Within hours after we put up a new sign, it disappears,"
he said.
Where do they all go? "Probably on the dorm walls at SFA (the
local university)," he guessed.
The highway department, however, shouldn't
be too harsh with SFA's students for swiping Looneyville's
signs. After all, there are some town signs in East
Texas that will always be irresistible. Looneyville--which
was named for a local farm family--not the population in general or its proximity
to Crazy Creek--is one of them.
They
also have a lot of trouble with signs at Diddy
Waw Diddy in Brazoria County. One explanation is that Diddy Way Diddy
is a conception of heaven--a place of no work or worry--conceived by early slaves.
Another version claims Diddy Way Diddy was the last depot stop to hell, and youngsters
who could mend their ways were destined for Diddy
Waw Diddy.
Nogalus
Prairie in Trinity County, supposedly got its name when the local citizenry
tried to dispatch a horse thief to hell, but couldn't find a suitable gallows
on the treeless prairie. Actually, the town was once known as Logallis, and somehow
became what it is today.
Residents of a town in Houston County wanted to
name their town Neches because of its closeness to a river, but were informed
by the post office that the name had already been taken. Someone added another
pencil mark to the first letter and it became Weches.
In l882,
the Panola County town of Linus became Deadwood as the result of a joke
on those who were trying to get a post office closer to the Sabine River. During
the deliberations, someone remarked: "We've got the deadwood on them now."
Old
Granny's Neck in Delta County got its name from an old woman who raised goats
on a neck of the South Sulphur River.
Scrapping Valley in Newton
County and Cut N' Shoot in
Montgomery County were reportedly named for the ornery disposition of the local
menfolk.
People who run across the name Point Blank in San Jacinto
County confuse it with cowboy mythology. The name actually comes from Blanc Point
(White Point), a name used by a Frenchwoman who lived there.
In 1903,
Ira Bean built a store and established a post office named Horger for the president
of a local school board. But when postal officials kept confusing Horger with
Borger and Spurger, Bean substituted
Bean's Place.
One
of my favorite creek names is Can't 'Cha Get Over Creek in Kaufman County,
which got its name because of its tendency to overflow after a rainfall.
Another
favorite creek name is Swamppoodle Creek in Bowie County. The name refers
to a puddle, not a dog, in a swampy area.
Choice in Shelby County
was named when postal officials submitted three possible names to local residents
and told them,"Pick your choice." They did, ignoring the three other names.
Uncertain in Harrison
County was once called Uncertain Landing because of the difficulty boats had in
mooring at the Caddo Lake port.
People who notice the sign to Latexo,
in Houston County, think that it has been misplaced from the border of Louisiana
and Texas. That’s close, but the town was named for
the Louisiana and Texas Orchard Company, a local business. | |
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