Saturday, February 25, 2006

A Few Christian County Road Names

A road by any other name would still lead to the same place.


"Froghop Road" (in northern Christian County) is one of my favorite local road names. "Monkey Norman Road" is another unusual name in our part of the county. It was named for a man whose nickname was "Monkey" because he loved to clown around.

The narrow rocky road that leads through the trees, over the ridge, and down into the valley south of Honey Grove, has a misnomer. When the county map makers came around, they named it "Jeff Adams Road" instead of "Ep Adams Road" as it had always been called. Apparently, they didn't listen carefully when they asked the road's name.

Hayes Road, which leads north out of Honey Grove, is named for Mr. Hayes who gave enough land that the wagon trail could be widened to a gravel road where two vehicles can safely meet. Before it was widened, it was as narrow as the Jeff Adams Road. Hayes Road follows a little creek through the "Honey Grove Holler" and many of the old-timers still call it the "Holler Road" which was its name before it was renamed "Hayes Road" by county bureaucrats.

Almost any names are more colorful than those recently given to rural roads in some Nebraska and Kansas counties. Ridiculous addresses for like "North 150th Boulevard" replaced the old names. This compulsary revamping of the rural address system was supposed to improve emergency response times for 911 calls, and I surely hope it did.


A deer in the distance. Jeff Adams Road, Fall of 2005

No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

CONTENTMENT: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry, live simply, expect little, give much, sing often, pray always, forget self, think of others and their feelings, fill your heart with love, scatter sunshine. These are the tried links in the golden chain of contentment.
(Author unknown)

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.
(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)

Thanks for reading.