What’s In A Name?

We took a drive last weekend and while looking for a particular road sign I wondered where some of these streets got their names and what was going through the minds of the people who named them. For instance, Rattlesnake Hammock! Here in the southeast the word hammock is given to a stand of trees that is in contrast to the surrounding ecosystem, so I have visions of rattlesnakes either hanging from these trees or infesting the ground around them. You don’t need a road to meander through that type of hammock! What you need is a sign, “Warning, Rattlesnake Hammock”

We have Radio Road, which I thought was pretty cool. It drives right into the airport, so I figured it had to do with radioing the airport tower. Nope! It was actually home to Naples’ first radio station. A functional moniker, not an exotic one.

Then there are the roads that have hyphenated names. We have a couple. Goodlette-Frank, named for once upon a time county commissioner Richard Goodlette, and Ed Frank, a businessman who started the famous swamp buggy races. I wonder if Frank ever feels slighted, because nobody takes the time to say, “Goodlette-Frank”, simply calling it Goodlette? Then there is Airport-Pulling. Obviously the airport is on Airport Road, but Pulling was added later to honor a major land investor by that name. Seriously? Reminds me of how often ballparks change their names based on who pays the most money to have it named after them. Airport-Pulling goes the way of Goodlette-Frank, and everyone just calls it, “Airport”. So much for feeling important.

We have Pine Ridge Road and for anyone familiar with the state of Florida you know there isn’t a ridge to be seen anywhere on the peninsula, but I can’t vouch for the panhandle. Neapolitan Way always leaves me craving ice cream. Go figure! And we all know who lives on Wisconsin Drive and Yorktown Road….snowbirds!

Here’s my all-time favorite, No Name Street! How awesome is that! What, just ran out of creativity? No more names came to mind? I mean, you have to draw the line somewhere and apparently it was at this poor street. Sorry, no name for you!

In La Plata County, where we came from, they have twelve roads named Aspen, seven Oak, five Columbine, five Cottonwood, and three Bear Creek. Good luck UPS and Fed-X. If your mail gets delivered to the wrong address, you have only yourselves to blame! Someone get them a flora and fauna book so they can branch out !

There lacks a certain creativity when roads are numbers instead of names. Are those people boring, or just too busy to be bothered? Then there are those towns that are just way too creative. They can’t settle on one name, so instead they choose two for the same road, like Poinciana Drive if you’re on the west side of Airport or Grey Oaks Blvd if you’re on the east side. Better yet is Horseshoe Dr. N and Horseshoe Dr. S, because Horseshoe Drive really is a horseshoe. It’s almost like we’re testing people to see if they get lost!

So, what’s in a name? Everything! Great names are remembered! They fire the imagination, make you laugh, wonder, roll your eyes, and sometimes roll your tongue trying to pronounce it.  You see shadows of people long past, brainstorming the perfect name like Tamiami Trail, Alligator Alley, and yes…Rattlesnake Hammock.