Stephens County Chronicles: What’s in a name?
By Jean Hayworth/Breckenridge Texan
Jean Hayworth
For this column, I’m going to step outside of Stephens County a little.
We’re all familiar with the names of many communities in Stephens County and other area counties. But, what everyone might not know is that for some towns, the names we know them by nowadays aren’t necessarily how they were known back in their early days.
For example, the South Bend community, located in Young County where State Highway 67 crosses the Brazos River, was first called “Arkansas” by J.N. Smith, one of the first shopkeepers in that area. When the post office was established in the late 1890s, the name was changed to “South Bend.” Similarly, the town of Palo Pinto was a community known as Golconda until it was renamed in the late 1850s.
Take a look at the towns listed below and see if you can match the current names on the left to their former names, on the right. A couple of the towns are here in Stephens County; the others are in nearby counties.
The answers are hidden in the green box below. Click the plus sign on the green box to see the answers.
Area Place Names Quiz
Match the current town names (on the left) with the name (or names) the town was known by in the past (in the list on the right). Some towns have more than one former name, as noted.| Current Names | Former Names |
|---|---|
| 1. Ranger | A. Schleicher |
| 2. Winters | B. Gould City |
| 3. Anson | C. Mountain Valley |
| 4. Ivan | D. Mukewater |
| 5. Necessity (2) | E. Camp Vickery |
| 6. Roscoe | F. Camp Valley |
| 7. Cisco | G. Bluff Creek Valley |
| 8. Baird (2) | H. Marcy |
| 9. Moran | I. Cotton Plant |
| 10. Cross Plains | J. Jones City |
| 11. Coleman (2) | K. Red Gap |
| 12. Rochester | L. Hulltown |
| M. Vista | |
| N. Trickham | |
| O. Finley Point | |
| Answers Below |
1. F
2. G
3. J
4. O
5. C and I
6. M
7. K
8. B and E
9. L
10. A
11. D and N
12. H
Jean Hayworth is a columnist for the Breckenridge Texan, writing about the history of Breckenridge and Stephens County. Originally from Pennsylvania, she’s lived in Breckenridge since 1975. Hayworth is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, as well as a former school teacher and newspaper reporter/editor/columnist. She also works part-time for the Swenson Memorial Museum in Breckenridge. Click here to read more about her and the beginnings of this column.
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