183- HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE SUFFOLK?....AND A FEW ORIGINS THROWN IN!....

PLEASE GO BACK TO #153 (William & Mary-Nov. 20th) for some more neat history!

A) SUFFOLK is an English word meaning "south folk" and is pronouced correctly as Suf-FOLK!
B) NORFOLK is also an English word meaning "north folk" and is NOT pronouced as Nor-f**k, but correctly, historically, as Nor-FOLK!
C) GLOUCESTER....an English town and is pronounced "gloss-ter."
D) PORTSMOUTH....English town...."Port at the Mouth of the River."
E) STAUNTON...old English family name is pronouced "Stan-ton" up in the Shenandoah Valley...
means "stone town."
F) SHENANDOAH...is a native American word and means "Daughter of the Stars."
G) S'-M-O-R-E-S!...is a tantalizing word that means "yummy and means that I want some more!"
H) ROANOKE...is a native American word that means a form of 'money'...Roanoke originally was named "Big Lick." Roanoke (and Roanoke county combined) is the largest city in the mountainous region of Western Virginia and is described as 'The Capital of the Blue Ridge.' Young Roanokers have begun to call their town "Noke" or "the Noke!"
I) C-VILLE....Charlottesville, in the Piedmont (foothills) of Virginia, is affectionally called C-Ville. This guy is proud to have studied at U.Va. a bit. And spent many an afternoon on "The Corner" on Main Street. (shhhh...my first 600+ novel being completed has something to do with that university across from The Corner...secret).
J) BRISTOL (Va./TN)...there are two cities in Virginia with dual locations, and Bristol is one. There is a street that separates the two...on one side is Tennessee and walk across the street into Virginia...interesting governments. The other one is BLUEFIELD (Va./W.Va.)...both have separate city governments in separate States. This historian has visited both.
K) BUENA VISTA....a small town next to Lexington, in Rockbridge County...is correctly pronounced, locally, "Bu-na Vista", and not the Spanish pronunciation! Both are in the Shenandoah Valley. Don't make the mistake of using that Spanish pronunciation...locals will LOOK at you twice! The word originally meant "good view." By the way, Lexington, a small town, is home to two universities...VMI and W&L! And Buena Vista has a small college, Southern Virginia College.
L) WAYNESBORO....named for General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, Revolutionary War hero!
M) FRONT ROYAL....from a term during the Revolutionary War, too..."Front the Royal Oak"...deserters were lined up in front of a huge, old oak tree and.......
N) NEWPORT NEWS....the origin that I believe is true comes from Capt. Christopher Newport. During the terrible, trying times at Jamestowne, those left sailed back down the James, leaving. Capt. Newport sailed in, saw them and made them go back up the river to Jamestowne, WITH plenty of provisions (f00d) from England! "Newport's news...he was coming back with food!" Virginia also has honored this early 'Virginian' by naming a growing university in his honor in Newport News!
O) CROAKER (James City County, Va.)....comes from the abundant fish in nearby York River! The place in the road originally was named Hollywood, for holly trees.
P) HANGMAN'S LANE (Williamsburg, Va.)....located on Capitol Landing Rd. at Rte. 143! Persons were taken "way out" of town to be hanged! Town didn't want the hanging IN town. Sheriff built a scafold with three posts and two boards across top, resembling a tri-corner effect.
Q) NORGE (JCC, Va.)....founded in 1898...Norge comes from the Norwegian spelling for Norway and pronounced "Nor-ga." Norge depot there was an early important commercial business for shipping potatoes and sweet potatoes to distant markets. Past Hickory Neck Episcopal Church, on Rte. 60 and across the road, you can still see an early sweet potato barn over in the field, past an early home...the Stewart place.
R) BARHAMSVILLE (New Kent County, Va.)....Bennett Barham had a home in that area in 1823.
S) LIGHTFOOT (JCC, Va.)....two possible stories here. A prominent lawyer, Philip Lightfoot, was a merchant in that area prior to 1768. The other story involves Lightfoot Taylor who ran a stage stop in that area in the 1800s. "Going to Lightfoot's" was an expression used back then for that area.
T) WALT DISNEY!....this imaginative genius had a special, reserved seat in the back of the old Williamsburg Theatre on Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg. He would sit with his friend, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in the back of the once ornate theatre, before C.W. decided to change things, and view one of the Disney films together...and chat a bit.
U) TOANO....two different stories. Was first called Burnt Ordinary. When the C&O Railroad Co. built the railroad through, one story claims they named the station, and town, for a spring out in Utah, Toano Springs. Another story claims that it was named for a Native American, with the word meaning "pipe camping place."
V) MOSCOW, Va.....there is a one-store place in the road northwest of Staunton, but it's pronounced "Mos-co." Used to stop there for a soda and oatmeal cookie on the way to trout fish in the North River Gorge.
W) JERUSALEM CHAPEL....Abandoned, in ruins, very old and historic wooden chapel on Brick Bat Road in James City County, Va. A handful of years ago went out a few times to measure all its details and built a scaled model of the way it was in its heyday. Another case of deeply being saddened because it has been left to simply fall apart! What a CRYING shame!
X) GROVE....community area of James City County near city limits of Newport News. Was originally named Carter's Grove Quarter, where their slaves lived in cabins. At one time the area was called Black Swamp Quarter, also. Carter's Grove Qarter was shortened to Grove Quarter and then to Grove!
Y) LANEXA, Va.....New Kent County, Rte. 60. The original village is located off the "new" Rte. 60 a few miles to the left on the river! Turn left in what is now called Lanexa and take just a few minutes to see a few of the old store buildings left. There was a depot there but no longer
Z) ROCHAMBEAU....a James City County, Va. name. French Gen. Jean Baptiste Rochambeau commanded the French troops in Virginia during our Revolutionary War and fought with our Gen. George Washington at Yorktown!
AA) URBANNA, Va.....this Middlesex County town was formed by combining "urban" and "Queen Anne."
BB) THE TOWN of MAGRUDER....is no more, so to speak! Before WWII there was a normal town, Magruder, where our Camp Peary exists today. Yes, the federal government came in and moved everyone out (paying $ for the properties). I'm told that the remnants of the town are still "in there." On my list of historical research is to visit Magruder inside Camp Peary.
(Latest...I did receive special permission to go on the Camp Peary property, with an aide taking me, to see what''s left of the town of Magruder. A church, and cemetery, one two-story home and a barn. My escort was very helpful and even copied some old pics of those buildings for me! Good experience. Last summer was given permission to see the old Lee House (Kiskiack House) on Navel Weapons Station property along the York River!)
CC) SEAFORD....The original name was "Crab Neck." The name was changed by an E.E. Slaight to create a more pleasant sound. Could not uncover who Slaight was and why he had the power to make the change. There was a Clarence J. Slaight in 1914 who became Seaford's Postmaster.
DD) MONTICELLO....Jefferson pronounce it "Mon-Ti-CHELL-O! He liked the Italian word meaning "little mountain."
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