Names on the Land

[Dave Monroe]

Names on the Land
A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States
By George R. Stewart
Introduction by Matt Weiland

George R. Stewart's classic study of place-naming in the United States
was written during World War II as a tribute to the varied heritage of
the nation's peoples. More than half a century later, Names on the
Land remains the authoritative source on its subject, while Stewart's
intimate knowledge of America and love of anecdote make his book a
unique and delightful window on American history and social life.

Names on the Land is a fascinating and fantastically detailed panorama
of language in action. Stewart opens with the first European names in
what would later be the United States—Ponce de León's flowery Florída,
Cortés's semi-mythical isle of California, and the red Rio
Colorado—before going on to explore New England, New Amsterdam, and
New Sweden, the French and the Russian legacies, and the unlikely
contributions of everybody from border ruffians to Boston Brahmins.
These lively pages examine where and why Indian names were likely to
be retained; nineteenth-century fads that gave rise to dozens of Troys
and Athens and to suburban Parksides, Brookmonts, and Woodcrest
Manors; and deep and enduring mysteries such as why "Arkansas" is
Arkansaw, except of course when it isn't.

Names on the Land will engage anyone who has ever wondered at the
curious names scattered across the American map. Stewart's answer is
always a story—one of the countless stories that lie behind the rich
and strange diversity of the USA.

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