Towns with Tree Names

Almost as a hobby I began two years ago to enter on two data base computer diskettes, from a “zip-code” (postal code) manual, the names of all U.S. cities and towns with tree names. The two files now contain 2,210 entries: 1,293 names of particular tree kinds (Black Oak, Arkansas 72414) and 917 with names about trees in general (Edgewood, Georgia 31907). For oaks, 183 towns have been named!

For particular trees, I also entered a “category” word. In the case of foreign words, I used the English meaning (Boston, from Dutch “bos”= forest).

The data can be listed by state(s), town(s), zip code, and genus/category; eight different tables are possible. Each table can be sorted within one category by another category. For example, all towns in Massachusetts that are named for elm, or all particular tree-named towns in Illinois, or all states that have a town with a certain name. Figure 1 shows the U.S. towns named for walnut, and Figure 2 shows the particular tree-named towns in West Virginia.

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Figure 1

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Figure 2

Because the American people came from every land in the world, so do our U.S. place names. In certain cases I chanced to know that a town name went beck to a tree name in the Dutch, German, or French language. For Spanish names in the Puerto Rico list, I consulted a Guatemalan refugee. And in a few cases I know that a town name from a certain American Indian language meant a tree (Orono,Maine and Chicopee,Massachusetts both mean an area of elm trees). But:

1. The very many tribal languages among our Indians may have introduced many more tree names into our town names, where only the local inhabitants would know.

2. Town names in the U.S. may derive from any of the world’s languages.

3. Many named communities may have no separate postal code number or no separate town government, yet they appear on maps and bear tree names.

This article, then, is an appeal for input from ISA members. You know your state. Which of your towns have names of trees (English or any other language, especially in languages of Indian tribes in your area)? Please send your information to: F.W. Holmes, 24 Berkshire Terrace, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002. And, if you would like my two lists for your state, send a #10 envelope bearing your name and address, plus $1.00 (for postage and photocopying).

• © 1988, International Society of Arboriculture. All rights reserved.