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1001 Kansas Place Names
The Kansas map is dotted with colorful and intriguing place names that invite Grenola, La Cygne, Cawker City, Wamego, Tonovay, Liberal, Nicodemus, Skiddy, and White Woman Creek. These—and 1058 others, from Abbeyville to Zurich—are described in this handy treasure trove of local history. In addition to discussing how the name originated and what changes it has undergone, McCoy and Hults provide the inquisitive with the spelling and pronunciation (of unusual names), the county where located, related anecdotes, post office dates, and population figures. The result is a fascinating mosaic of information on Kansas history, families, events, politics, settlement patterns, and local lore.
Given its geographic location at the crossroads of America, Kansas understandably boasts a diversity of place names. Native Americans, blacks, the French, Spanish, Anglo-Irish, German-Russians, and other ethnic groups have left their stamp on Kansas long with westward-moving Americans. In Kansas the majority of the place names were chosen to describe, to acknowledge origins, or to commemorate. The descriptive include Smoky Hill, Pretty Prairie, and Saline. American migrants brought Pittsburg, Erie, Oberlin, and Manhattan; foreign immigrants, Toronto, Liebenthal, Clyde, Alexanderwhol, and Smolan. But, as elsewhere in the United States, most names were chosen to commemorate; places are named for Indians, postmasters, landowners, railroad officials, military heroes, local politicians, statesmen, judges, and presidents.
McCoy and Hults have included all 105 counties and their seats of government and all 629 incorporated places as listed in the 1980 U.S. Census. The remaining have been chosen because of historical geographic, or geological interest.
Abundantly illustrated with humorous drawings by John Gruber, this handy place name gazetteer is both a valuable reference and a source of good fun.
Given its geographic location at the crossroads of America, Kansas understandably boasts a diversity of place names. Native Americans, blacks, the French, Spanish, Anglo-Irish, German-Russians, and other ethnic groups have left their stamp on Kansas long with westward-moving Americans. In Kansas the majority of the place names were chosen to describe, to acknowledge origins, or to commemorate. The descriptive include Smoky Hill, Pretty Prairie, and Saline. American migrants brought Pittsburg, Erie, Oberlin, and Manhattan; foreign immigrants, Toronto, Liebenthal, Clyde, Alexanderwhol, and Smolan. But, as elsewhere in the United States, most names were chosen to commemorate; places are named for Indians, postmasters, landowners, railroad officials, military heroes, local politicians, statesmen, judges, and presidents.
McCoy and Hults have included all 105 counties and their seats of government and all 629 incorporated places as listed in the 1980 U.S. Census. The remaining have been chosen because of historical geographic, or geological interest.
Abundantly illustrated with humorous drawings by John Gruber, this handy place name gazetteer is both a valuable reference and a source of good fun.
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 3, 2021
The origins of names has always been a fascinating subject to me and one that I enjoy exploring, especially when the compilation is as diverse as a state's names. Whether they can be credited as true or not, they are a snapshot of our history that captures and showcases what our ancestors held dear at one point and even captures the changes of beliefs as time marches on.
This book itself presents to the reader a list of names that covers not only cities and counties but also parts of the landscape. As such there are the stories such as the naming of the Marais Des Cygnus, the salutes to the indigenous people and/or individuals, the infamous memorials such as Benders Mound and the memorializing of other names such as with all things related to Horace Greeley. Thus the reader is then given the choice on how to choose this book whether they will read it from cover-to-cover or pick-and-choose the entries they would like to explore.
At the same time given to the march of time the book is also outdated and a bit of a tragic read. Just alone in the first two letters of the alphabet three of the towns mentioned are now gone from the Kansas landscape while Bismarck Grove and Black Jack have devolved - one into a farm on the outskirts of north Lawrence while the other is now a historic battle site/park on the edges of yet another town. As they say the only thing that stays the same is change.
All in all it is still a great read when taken together as a whole and a wonderful treasure to those who enjoy Kansas history.
This book itself presents to the reader a list of names that covers not only cities and counties but also parts of the landscape. As such there are the stories such as the naming of the Marais Des Cygnus, the salutes to the indigenous people and/or individuals, the infamous memorials such as Benders Mound and the memorializing of other names such as with all things related to Horace Greeley. Thus the reader is then given the choice on how to choose this book whether they will read it from cover-to-cover or pick-and-choose the entries they would like to explore.
At the same time given to the march of time the book is also outdated and a bit of a tragic read. Just alone in the first two letters of the alphabet three of the towns mentioned are now gone from the Kansas landscape while Bismarck Grove and Black Jack have devolved - one into a farm on the outskirts of north Lawrence while the other is now a historic battle site/park on the edges of yet another town. As they say the only thing that stays the same is change.
All in all it is still a great read when taken together as a whole and a wonderful treasure to those who enjoy Kansas history.
June 4, 2022
Light, easy reading. Sometimes humorous, sometimes educational, and sometimes even doubtful, but if you like Kansas history, this is a fun book to read.
May 4, 2024
Just some fun reference
January 16, 2016
This was a good book explaining the meaning and history of the names of different places. It included the names of cities, counties, buildings, and other Kansas objects such as rivers, etc. I did enjoy it but I am not sure if all of them are correct and that is why I choose to give it only 3 stars.
September 30, 2015
Being new to Kansas I have wondered how some of towns we have here got named also. Some are named after people, or the land, or a city back east. Neat book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews