You've always wondered about those peculiar and colorful town names. Now here comes the full and often remarkable explanantions. Perfect for new Texans, transplanted Texans, and history buffs, this book blends human interest, curious circumstances, humor and even constroversy with local historical facts surrounding the origins of Texas town names.

This is the new 'pocket' version of the classic "California Place Names", first published by California in 1949. Erwin G. Gudde's monumental work, which went through several editions during its author's lifetime, has now been released in an expanded and updated edition by William Bright. The abridged version, originally called "1000 California Place Names", has grown to a dynamic "1500 California Place Names" in Bright's hands. Those who have used and enjoyed "1000 California Place Names" through the decades will be glad to know that "1500 California Place Names" is not only bigger but better. This handbook focuses on two sorts of names: those that are well-known as destinations or geographical features of the state, such as La Jolla, Tahoe, and Alcatraz, and those that demand attention because of their problematic origins, whether Spanish like Bodega and Chamisal or Native American like Aguanga and Siskiyou. Names of the major Indian tribes of California are included, since some of them have been directly adapted as place names and others have been the source of a variety of names. Bright incorporates his own recent research and that of other linguists and local historians, giving us a much deeper appreciation of the tangled ancestry many California names embody. Featuring phonetic pronunciations for all the Golden State's tongue-twisting names, this is in effect a brand new book, indispensable to California residents and visitors alike.

eBook available with sample pages: PE:0415277507

Designed for anyone interested in the human and physical geography of the Spanish-speaking world, both modern and historical, this dictionary provides more refined and geographically-oriented definitions than general bilingual dictionaries. It contains thousands of words not included in even the best standard bilingual dictionaries. Although the content is not aimed at the specialist, it is assumed that the user has more than an elementary acquaintance with Spanish and wants more than word-for-word matches. With over 26,000 main entries and thousands more subentries, the volume includes enough material for a native English speaker versed in basic Spanish to use it almost exclusively for landscape investigations in the field, library, or archive. It is an essential tool for anyone studying the human or physical geography of the Spanish-speaking world.

New in paperback! This new and revised edition of Place-Name Changes Since 1900, originally published in 1979, contains over 4,500 name changes worldwide, ranging from small villages to entire countries. Much has changed in the world in the 13 years that have passed since the original work appeared, and the new edition takes full account of recent developments in Germany, the former Soviet Union, and other East European countries such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. An appendix gives the official names of countries of the world as of January 1, 1992. The bibliography has been updated and enlarged. Now more than ever, the work will prove an essential reference tool for all those who wish to keep abreast with the latest developments on the world stage. Cloth edition previously published in 1993. Paperback edition available August 2002.

" From the wealth of place names in Kentucky, Rennick has selected those of some 2,000 communities and post offices. These places are usually the largest, the best known, or the most important as well as those with unusual or inherently interesting names. Including perhaps one-fourth of all such places known in the state, the names were chosen as a representative sample among Kentucky's counties and sections. Kentucky Place Names offers a fascinating mosaic of information on families, events, politics, and local lore in the state. It will interest all Kentuckians as well as the growing number of scholars of American place names.

New in Paper Can you identify the "Bride of the Adriatic"?, the "Home of Bock Beer"?, the "Eye of Greece"?, the "Home of the Great Bed"?, the "Sick Man of Europe"? These nicknames and many others appellations of countries, cities, mountains, rivers, capes and places of historical interest are identified in Harold Sharp's concise but thorough volume. Arranged in one alphabetical listing, the book includes nicknames cross-referenced to the official name of each unit, shown as a main entry. Handbook of Geographical Nicknames will be of use to students of geography and reference librarians in both academic and public libraries since it brings together in one volume difficult-to-locate information scattered throughout the voluminous literature of the subject. Cloth version previously published in 1980."

With over 170,000 entries, the "Columbia Gazetteer of the World" is an authoritative A to Z encyclopedia of geographical places and features. Whether you're looking for the ten highest mountain peaks in North America, the major commercial crops in Brazil's economy, all the rivers in Southeast Asia, the former name of the city of Yangon, or the natural resources available in Sub-Saharan Africa, the "Gazetteer" is the one-stop resource for all your information needs.

First published in 1998, the "Gazetteer" now features new entries and extensive revisions to reflect recent administrative divisions in countries around the world. It also contains new maps, population figures, and an expanded glossary of geographical and geological terms. With its long history of accuracy and authority, there is no other encyclopedia like "Gazetteer,"

The "Columbia Gazetteer" covers:

* The political world-countries, provinces, regions, states, counties, capitals, cities, towns, villages, and neighborhoods.

* The physical world-continents, oceans, seas, lakes, lagoons, rivers, bays, inlets, channels, and streams, along with islands, archipelagos, peninsulas, atolls, mountains, mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, valleys, and volcanoes.

* And special places-national parks and monuments, historic and archaeological sites, harbors, ports, airports, nuclear plants, canals, and destinations of interest.

"Shropshire Murders" brings together numerous murderous tales, some which were little known outside the county, and others which made national headlines. Contained within the pages of this book are the stories behind some of the most heinous crimes ever committed in Shropshire. They include the Revd Robert Foulkes, who killed his illegitimate child in 1678; the murder of Catherine Lewis by John Mapp at Longden in 1867; the horrific axe murders committed by John Doughty at Church Stretton in 1924; and the tragic death of Dennis O'Neill, who was beaten and starved by his foster parents in 1944. Nicola Sly's carefully researched and enthralling text will appeal to anyone interested in the shady side of Shropshire's history.

Dane County Place-Names is an entertaining record of the heritage of Dane County, Wisconsin's capital region, from its earliest days through the 1940s. This classic work by the late lexicographer Frederic G. Cassidy is back in print for new generations to enjoy. Cassidy applied his insightful eye to the origins and evolution of local names that reveal a colorful history: Whiskey Creek, Brag Hollow, Marxville, Pancake Valley, Halunkenburg, Skunk Hollow, and Tipple School. This edition features a new introduction by local historian Tracy Will and a foreword by Isthmus journalist David Medaris.

The names of Oxford's streets and roads are fascinating and in many cases unique, but in Oxford, as in Wonderland, things are not always what they seem. North Parade Avenue, for example, lies to the south of South parade, while St. Aldate's refers to both to a church and a street, though there is no saint of that name. Many names have changed over the years; although present names such as St Aldate's, Cornmarket, and Merton Street have an authentic historical ring to them, within the diamond formed by St Giles to the north, the railway station to the west, the Plain to the east and Folly Bridge to the south. Scarcely any street uses its original name. Not surprisingly, over the centuries some of these thoroughfares have disappeared altogether. This book traces the origins of names found in Oxford, not only of its streets and roads, villages, suburbs, and housing estates, but also of the various colleges which make up the University, many of which have had a considerable influence on its streets. The illustrations of "The Street Names of Oxford" range in date from 19th-century prints and old pictures to new photographs which show a much-changed city.

William A. Read (1869-1962) was an internationally educated and renowned linguist whose career included 38 years as a professor of English at Louisiana State University. His writings spanned five decades and have been instrumental across a wide range of academic disciplines. Most importantly, Read devoted a good portion of his research to the meaning of place names in the southeastern United States - especially as they related to Indian word adoption by Europeans.This volume includes his three Louisiana articles combined: ""Louisiana Place-Names of Indian Origin"" (1927), ""More Indian Place-Names in Louisiana"" (1928), and ""Indian Words"" (1931). Joining Alabama's reprint of ""Indian Place Names in Alabama"" and ""Florida Place Names of Indian Origin"" and ""Seminole Personal Names"", this volume completes the republication of the southern place name writings of William A. Read.

Take a fascinating trip around Bolton with this comprehensive etymological guide to its highways and byways. Discover the origins of the peculiarly named 'Bowkers Row' and 'Thweat Street'. Delve into the lives of some of Bolton's famous residents who are commemorated in the road names of their town, and find out about the numerous buildings and industries that also left their mark on Bolton's streets. Featuring all the streets of Great Bolton and Little Bolton and illustrated with more than seventy photographs, this valuable work is sure to appeal both to those interested in the study of the English language and to those wishing to discover more about Bolton's intriguing past.

Lourdes and Churchtown, Woden and Clio, Emerson and Sigourney, Tripoli and Waterloo, Prairie City and Prairieburg, Tama and Swedesburg, What Cheer and Coin. Iowa's place-names reflect the religions, myths, cultures, families, heroes, whimsies, and misspellings of the Hawkeye State's inhabitants. Tom Savage spent four years corresponding with librarians, city and county officials, and local historians, reading newspaper archives, and exploring local websites in an effort to find out why these communities received their particular names, when they were established, and when they were incorporated.
Savage includes information on the place-names of all 1,188 incorporated and unincorporated communities in Iowa that meet at least two of the following qualifications: twenty-five or more residents; a retail business; an annual celebration or festival; a school; church, or cemetery; a building on the National Register of Historic Places; a zip-coded post office; or an association with a public recreation site. If a town's name has changed over the years, he provides information about each name; if a name's provenance is unclear, he provides possible explanations. He also includes information about the state's name and about each of its ninety-nine counties as well as a list of ghost towns. The entries range from the counties of Adair to Wright and from the towns of Abingdon to Zwingle; from Iowa's oldest town, Dubuque, starting as a mining camp in the 1780s and incorporated in 1841, to its newest, Maharishi Vedic City, incorporated in 2001.
Theimaginations and experiences of its citizens played a role in the naming of Iowa's communities, as did the hopes of the huge influx of immigrants who settled the state in the 1800s. Tom Savage's dictionary of place-names provides an appealing genealogical and historical background to today's map of Iowa.
"It is one of the beauties of Iowa that travel across the state brings a person into contact with so many wonderful names, some of which a traveler may understand immediately, but others may require a bit of investigation. Like the poet Stephen Vincent Benet, we have fallen in love with American names. They are part of our soul, be they family names, town names, or artifact names. We identify with them and are identified with them, and we cannot live without them. This book will help us learn more about them and integrate them into our beings."--from the foreword by Loren N. Horton
"Primghar, O'Brien County. Primghar was established by W. C. Green and James Roberts on November 8, 1872. The name of the town comes from the initials of the eight men who were instrumental in developing it. A short poem memorializes the men and their names:
Pumphrey, the treasurer, drives the first nail;
Roberts, the donor, is quick on his trail;
Inman dips slyly his first letter in;
McCormack adds M, which makes the full Prim;
Green, thinking of groceries, gives them the G;
Hayes drops them an H, without asking a fee;
Albright, the joker, with his jokes all at par;
Rerick brings up the rear andcrowns all 'Primghar.'
Primghar was incorporated on February 15, 1888."

A compendium of Indian-derived names from the three languages of the Muskhogean family--Seminole, Hitchiti, and Choctaw.

The first Native peoples of what is now the United States who met and interacted with Europeans were the people of the lower Southeast. They were individuals of the larger "Maskoki" linguistic family who inhabited much of present-day Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and eastern portions of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Louisiana. Today, sixteen federally recognized tribes trace their heritage from these early "Maskoki" peoples, and many of them in both Florida and Oklahoma still speak and understand this root language.

The continuing vitality of this core language, and of Seminole culture and influence, makes this linguistic examination by William Read ever more valuable. A companion to his study of "Indian Place Names in Alabama," this long out-of-print guide offers a new introduction from Patricia Wickman in which she provides current understandings of Seminole language and derivations and a brief analysis of Read's contribution to the preservation of the Native linguistic record.

Victor Watt's reference work comprises a completely new compilation, based on the archives of the English Place-Name Society. It reflects the most recent scholarship for all names of cities, towns, villages, hamlets, rivers, streams, hills and other geographical locations included in the Ordnance Survey Road Atlas of Great Britain (1983), with many more recent additions. The Dictionary will be of interest to geographers, historians, historical linguists and language scholars.

In his latest book, John Clark, author of Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past and Hawai`i Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites, continues his fascinating look at Hawai`i history as told through the stories hidden in its place names. North Shore Place Names: Kahuku to Ka`ena takes the reader on a historical tour of the North Shore of O`ahu conveyed by Hawaiian place names. To research information on place names Clark tapped into 125,000 pages of Hawaiian-language newspapers published from 1834 to 1948, an archive available online in the Papakilo Database, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' repository of historically and culturally significant data collections. The author collected an enormous number of references to specific North Shore locations and presents the material in the original Hawaiian with English translations in an easy-to-use dictionary style format. An invaluable resource for anyone interested in Hawai`i history and the Hawaiian language, North Shore Place Names: Kahuku to Ka`ena brings to life the names, places, and events of the historic North Shore community.

This book is dedicated to various aspects of contemporary Chinese place names, their structural and semantic features, as well as naming phenomena present in Chinese toponymy. The structural analysis deals with the division of placename words into generic and specific, and the classification of Chinese generics and specifics according to their morphological structure. The classification of toponyms as derivations from other words is also discussed. This study analyses the semantic content of toponyms, dealing with their meaning as proper names, and classifies them into nine main categories according to their origin. The study is based on a corpus of 1973 names of administrative units at the county and city level of 20 provinces of the People's Republic of China. Contents: The structure of contemporary Chinese names of the administrative units, their meaning and semantic classification - Naming phenomena and classification of Chinese toponyms according to the mechanism of their origin.