City Spotlight on Carl: Let's Play the Name Game

Ever wonder how a town or city got its name?

It is not uncommon for villages, towns, cities, counties and provinces the world over to bear the names of royal leaders, celebrated statesmen, prominent residents, founding members or original postmasters.

Here in the United States, many municipalities carry variations of last names, such as Washington, D.C., named for George Washington; Jackson, Miss., for Andrew Jackson; New Franklin, Ohio, for Benjamin Franklin; Edison, New Jersey, for Thomas Edison; and Columbus, Ga., after Christopher Columbus.

As a matter of fact, our own Barrow County bears the name of David Crenshaw Barrow Jr., aka “Uncle Dave” — beloved chancellor of the University of Georgia from 1906 to 1925.

Here in Georgia, there are only a handful of townships that carry a moniker derived from a FIRST name. For instance, the town of Carl was named after Carl Pate — the infant son of local shop owners.

Other local towns that share the rare tradition of first name derivation include Dudley, Ga., after U.S. Representative Dudley Mays Hughes; Roswell, Ga., after town founder and owner of the Roswell Manufacturing Company cotton mill Roswell King; and Augusta, Ga., after Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg — the Princess of Wales during the mid-1700s.

Source: Wikipedia – “List of American Places Named After People” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_places_named_after_people (August 16, 2011)

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