TOPONYMY By BENJAMI~V L. MILLER There is general interest in the derivation of place names, Fainly because of the historic significance, but also on account of an Innate curiosity that is almost universal. In many instances the reasons for the designation are obvious, as for example, the naming of a town “ Uountainville” when it is lo)cated at the foot or on the top of a mountain ; calling a stream “Rock Creek” when its channel or valley is conspicuously rocky ; or naminv a stream with numerous meanders ‘ ‘ Crooked Creek. ” In other case; the reasons are not apparent and are not known even to the inhabitants of the region. It 1s alsl? not unusual to find conflicting explanations. When this occurs, the dlffer- ent origins are given. It is probable that some of the interpretations offered here will be challenged. It is hoped that any disagreements of this sort will be made available to th,e writer and others interested in this subject. In such an area as Lehigh C’ounty, with a recorded history of less than 240 years, it is usual157 , but not always, possible to discover why the place names have been assigned. In other parts of the world, toponymic investigators encounter almost insuperable difficulties. The data for this chapter have been collected during an investiga- tion of the maps and descriptive materials dealing with this area; individuals familiar with some phases of the study have also eon- tributed. Both published and manuscript documents have been con- sulted, local histories, travel books, newspapers, etc. The more lm- portant of these are included in the Bibliography and Cartography which constitute another chapter in this volume and, m general, to not require specific mention here. A few are listed because of their especial, value in compiling the data. They are as follows: HECKEWELDER, JOHN. Name.s which the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians gave to Rivers, Streams and Localities within the States 0.f Pennsyl- vania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia with their18y2plficance. Moravian Hi&. Sot. Trans., vol. 1, pp. 225-282, Nazareth, f. ROBERTS CHARLES R’HOADS, STOUDT, JOHN BAER, KRICK, THOMAS. H., and DIE~RICH, WILLIAM J. History of Lehigh County, PennsylvanIa and a genealogical and biographical record of its families. TWO ~01s. (bound in three parts), pp. 1101 and 1467, Allentown, 1914. ESPENSHADE, A. HOWRY. Pennsylvania Place Names, 375 pp., State College, 1925. DONEHOO, GEORGE P. A History of the Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania, 290 pp., Harrisburg, 1928. ROBERTS, CHARLES R. Place Names of Lehigh County and Their Origin. Lehigh County Hist. Sot. Ann. Proc., pp. 5-12, Allentown, 1936. The names given to the natural features ,of Lehigh Csounty and to the settlements and political divisions reveal several different ten- 63 64 LEHIGH COUNTY dencies. An attempt is made to classify the pIace names althongh admittedly such a classification must be artificial and m&t involve arbitrary assignments with little justification in some cases An ‘effort has been made to include all place names that have ever been in common use even though now obsolete. It is realized bow- ever, that probably there are other local names not known to the ‘writer and which have not been used on maps or in published articles. Some- one might well endeavor to collect these. The names of churches and schools have not been included, although these possess historic value and in some cases have been applied to small settlements. I. Indian names.-Although ‘only a ‘rel.atively f.ew Indian place nam’es r,emain in use, they nevertheless ,de#servepriority. The Indians attached ,names to some of the most important streams and mlountains and to som’e of their rather temporary se’ttlements. These seem to have been chos’en almost universally because of some characteristic f,eature. Gener.ally they wer,e .compound words or even in some cases almost complete s’entences. The early settlers endeav’ored to retain the Indian names, but with indiff’er.ent suc,cess. Some ‘of the names were long and were perhaps spoken by the Indians indistinctly or with variatilons by ,different individuals. Th’erefore, it i,s not surprising that there should be ,diff’erent spellings when thes’e were reduced to writing. The best illu’stration of this in this region is the name ’ ‘Monocacy. ” Th,e writer h’as found in the records and maps 37 spell- ings other than ‘the on’e n,ow in use (as shown on a later page) but in every case the pronunciati,on is almo’st if ,not quite the same. bath of th.e four syllables h.as from three t’o nine different spellin,gs, so that still other combinations may be found. Thes’e names have undergone such ch’anges that in some cases th’e terms now in use. bear little resemblance to’ the originial Indian desig- nations. In general th.e names were &ortened, but some hav’e been corrupted in ways n’ot satisfact’orily ‘explained. For example the change from “Lechauweki” to “Lehigh” involved numerous modi- ficatio’ns, some of which do not appear 180gical, as described on a later page. The following Indian names have been preserved, with all exc,ept th’e last one in current use : Indian Place Names Catasauqua Kittatinny Monocacy Saucon Coplay Lehigh Ontelaunee Tuppeckhanna Hokendauqua Macungie Perkiomen 2. Family names of early reside&.-The names of families or some particular individuals constitute the greatest number of place names of Lehigh County. The taverns of an early day were almost always kn’own by the names of the proprietors, and as these localities developed into settlements, the names were extended to include the entire community. When the tavern changed ‘owners, the name of the settlement also changed in m,any cases, so that difficulty is experi- enced in identifying some of these old place names now in disuse Creeks and hills likewise have at times borne different names because PLACE NAMES 65 of the arrival of new families in the particular regions. Creeks were commonly named fnr a family that operated a mill Ion the stream, and changed names when the ownership of the mill changed. A few settlements have had their names changed when the U. S. Government established a post office and would not accept a name previously used for a post office elsewhere within the State. In *some cases dual names persisted for some time, but eventually the village ad,opted the post office name. In the list of family place names the great preponderance of Ger- man names is readily apparent and indicates the important part played by German immigrants in the early settlement of Lehigh County. Famil$j NUmeS Aimeyville Germans Corner Lvnn Creek S (c) hoenersville Alburtis Germaxmville Manoeys Schrieber Allentown Greenawald Mary Ann Seiberlingville Ballietsville Griesemersville Furnace S’eiple Bauer’s Rock Guthe Station Merkle Station Seipstown Beets Guthsville Mickleys Siegersville Biery’s Port Haafsville Millerstown Siegfriecls Bridge Billigs Haas Hill Millers Island Sigmund Bittners Corner Haines Minnich Smiths Chapman Station Hartzell Mosserville Snydersville Claus (is)ville Hassen Creek Myersville Somerville Colesville Helfrichs Cave Neffs Stahlers Coopereburg Hoffman Neigharts Run Steinsville Corning Holbensville Newhard Stetlersville Crane Station Hynemansville New Smithville Stines Corners Cranesville Jeter Island Oppeltsville Switzer Creek Crowners Run Kemmers Ormrod Thanys Creek Custer(s) Kernsville Oswaldsville Treichlersville Dallas Township K$le;; R$tnd otts Trexlertown Deibertsville Peters Store Truckers Creek Dillingersville Krocksville Rabers Corners Walberts Dillingers Kraussdale Rextown Wallner Station Kuhnsville Ringers Walter Creek Donat Pig Kunkle’s Gap Rittersville Wanamaker (Peak?) Labareville Ruchsville Weidasville Dorney Park Lake Thomas Rupps Weilersville Dorney (s) ville Laros Saegereville Wellington Eckert Laury’s Schadts Wennersaille Eisenhart Leiberts Gap Schaefer Run Werleys Corners Fettersman Creek and Creek Schantzs Run Werleysville Fogelsville Linnville Scheidy Wes,cosville Fouets Ferry Linn Run Schelly Wilbur Fryburg Lintzport S(c) herersville Williamstown Fullerton Litzenberg Schnecksville Woodrings Gauffs Hill Lynnville Schneidersville Ziegler Run 3. Foreign place names.-Some Lehigh County places were named for foreign localities, usually the towns from whence the early settlers came. Here also most are of German origin, but there are several English and twlo Mexican: Foreign Place Names Hampton Metamora Swabia Creek Hanover New Tripoli Upper Milford Heidelberg Northampton Vera Cruz Lanark Salisbury (Salzburg) Weisenberg Lower Milford Strassburg 66 TZHIGH COUNTY 4. Domestic place names.-A few places have been named for other localitiles within the United States. They are: Portland, Shocary Ridge, Texas, East Texas. 5. Names of o?zaructeristic features.-There has always been a tend’ency to name localities for some characteristic features either natural ‘01:man-m.ade, or even s,ome episode. In some ,case the particu- lar feature may no longer persist. S’ome of these names may be inap- propriate at the present. Place Names Baaed on Characteristic Features Allemangel Fairview Mountainville Slatingt’on Bald Hill Flats Pleasant Corner South Mountain Big Rock Flint Hill Rock Creek Spitzberg Big Spring Fountain Hill Rockdale Spring Creek Blue Mountain Grubsberg Sandbank Spring Valley Cavern Spring Hilltown Sand Spring Summit Lawn Center Valley Hoseneack Sandstone Ridge Sunnyside Centerville Leather Corner Sink,ing Run The Cove Clapboardtown Post Slate Dam Tunnel Hill Crackersport Lochland Slatedale Crystal Spring Lowhill Slateville 6. Names of plants or animals.-An abundance of some plant growth or some kind of animal life has furnished several place names in Lehigh County : Floral Place Names Fauna1 Place Names Cedarville Huckleberry Ridge Plover P. 0. Cedar Creek Laurel Hill Toad Creek Cetronia Locust Valley Trout Creek Chaperal Ridge Sprucetown Cherry Ford Waldheim Park Chestnut Hill Willow Run 7. Names of occupations or &&&r&.--When certain ‘occupations or industries are prominent they c40mmonly are adopted as geographic place names.