Have you ever wondered where some Texas towns got their names?
Naming a Town
First, understand it wasn’t as easy as saying, “Let’s call our town xyz.” Well, it was, but if you wanted a post office, federal postal authorities had to approve your town’s name. (This was after Texas joined the U.S., of course.)
As Texas’ population boomed, so did the number of new communities wanting a post office. With thousands of requests, postal authorities were picky about what names they approved. Obviously, the state couldn’t have two towns with the same name. So, if there was already a town with the name you chose, you’d have to choose another. They also didn’t accept names that were too long or too similar to other established towns. Bottom line—the process of deciding on a town name and getting it approved could be both tedious and frustrating.
Rainbow
According to local historian, Ken Fry, in the 1890s, a committee met to decide on a town name. During the meeting, a thunderstorm raged. After the storm blew through and the skies cleared, a beautiful rainbow appeared. The committee saw it and decided to call their town “Rainbow.”
Rainbow even comes with a pot of gold legend. Supposedly, a Native American chief buried a pot of Spanish gold doubloons somewhere along the future town’s creek. He then created secret markings as a map to lead him back to the gold. Only he was chased away from the area before he could dig up the treasure. Years later, a couple of men who’d heard the tale, dug along the creek until they supposedly found a Dutch oven pot filled with more gold than either had ever seen or imagined. While there is no official record of gold—pot or not—being found in Rainbow, the story is as colorful as the town’s name.
Frognot
There are four good theories as to how “Frognot” got its name. One theory claims it came from the complete elimination of the area’s originally abundant frog population by the community’s first settlers. Another says it was really “Frog Nod” not “Frog Not,” referring to the frogs who sang late into the night as locals nodded off to sleep. Still another claims the residents didn’t want a noisy railroad switch, known as a “railroad frog.” And finally, the most popular theory comes from the local school’s “no frog” policy, put into place when students began bringing frogs into class.
Egypt
Until 1827, “Egypt” was known as “Mercer’s Crossing.” When the town supplied nearby villages with grain during a severe drought, people began calling it “Egypt.” This was in reference to the Bible’s account of Jacob sending his sons to buy corn from Egypt (Genesis 42:1-3).
Dimebox
Since the community around Brown’s Mill didn’t have a post office, residents dropped their mail and a dime in a small box in the mill’s office for weekly delivery to a nearby town. But “Brown’s Mill” and “Brownsville” sounded too similar, so to get a post office, the community officially became “Dimebox” in 1877.
Memphis
This town found its name thanks to a misaddressed letter. After having several name suggestions rejected by federal postal authorities, one of the town founders, while visiting Austin, saw a letter with a “No such town in Texas” notation on it. It had been addressed to “Memphis, Texas,” rather than “Memphis, Tennessee.” Sharing this information with fellow residents, the town successfully reapplied for a post office with the name, “Memphis.”
Bonus Town Names
Did You Know…
- This town’s name was changed to “Goliad” in honor of the father of the Mexican War of Independence, patriot priest Miguel Hidalgo. “Goliad” is believed to be an anagram of Hidalgo minus the silent “h.”
- The town of “Blanket” took its name from nearby Blanket Creek. The creek got its name from a group of surveyors who, in 1852, met a group of Tonkawa Indians who’d spread their blankets on sumac bushes near the creek.
- Uneducated residents in this community thought the 1858-constructed Masonic Lodge’s symbolic eye looked like a hog’s eye, and so named their town “Hogeye.”
- In 1886, after previous name rejections, this town succeeded with the general store owner’s suggestion of “Telephone.” (His store had the only telephone in the area.)
- The East Texas town of “Lickskillet” supposedly got its name when residents of the town told a group of late arrivals that dinner had already been eaten and, if they wanted supper, they could “lick the skillet.”
- The town of “Gun Barrel City” originated from “Gun Barrel Lane,” a road “as straight as a gun barrel.”
- Complete irony inspired the town name of “Comfort.” The first settlers were free-thinking, educated, city-dwelling Germans who hadn’t expected to engage in manual labor. They were so miserable in their new land, they proposed the name “Comfort” in a fit of satirical rage.
- In 1854, when an Alabama family finally completed the long journey to their new land in Texas, the daughter looked around and said, “Pa, this would be a sweet home.” The name “Sweet Home” stuck.
Final Name
Town names could be anything . . . a person or a place, an event, a word or phrase. But, as previously mentioned, to get a post office, federal postal authorities had final name approval. And everyone wanted a post office because it put your town on the map. In one case, though, the name chosen wasn’t really a suggestion.
Back in the 1850s, settlers began moving into the area, but it wasn’t until 1880 that residents decided it was time to get a post office. Six times the town applied, and six times the name suggested was rejected. At that point, community members supposedly told the authorities, “Let the post office be nameless and be damned!”
Whether it was spite, humor, or just weariness with the whole process, postal authorities took the community’s reply literally, accepting “Nameless” as the town’s official name.