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When
Russell Ash's book The Top 10 of Everything 2000 was published,
its listing for the ten most common U.S. town names was led by Fairview,
followed in order by Midway, Oak Grove, Franklin and Riverside (tied),
Centerville, Mount Pleasant, Georgetown, Salem, and Greenwood.
Texas has all of these places -- a generous supply, resulting from
the state's large number of towns and villages -- even though there's
also here an abundance of names that are unusual, even unique.
Compilers for the 2002-2003 edition of the Texas Almanac listed
ten populated Fairviews in Texas. There are a dozen or more
locations around the state where places named Fairview ceased to exist.
The largest Fairview
in Texas is between Plano
and McKinney in Collin
County, where a population of 2,644 was reported in the 2000 Census.
The next largest is New Fairview in Wise
County, with 877 residents.
The almanac lists 15 populated villages and hamlets named Midway.
More that a dozen Midways have vanished from the Texas road map in
past years. With a population of 288, Midway in Madison
County is the only incorporated town by this name. Unlike others,
it didn't acquire its name because of a location midway between other
places. Joseph Addison Clark, who moved to Madison
County in 1855, simply named the community for his hometown of
Midway, Kentucky. Clark later relocated at Thorp Spring, where with
his son, Randolph, he established Add-Ran College (now Texas Christian
University).
In Hidalgo County,
Midway North and Midway South are fast-growing unincorporated towns
where populations of 3,946 and 1,711, respectively, were reported
last year.
Texans live in six towns named Oak Grove, but nine other Oak
Groves have disappeared through the years. A town in Kaufman
County with 710 population is the largest of the present-day towns.
Franklin
(pop. 1,470), the county seat of Robertson
County, is the only populated town of its name in Texas unless
one counts Ben
Franklin, a crossroads community in Delta
County. Two other Franklins are no longer on the map.
Similarly, the state has a shortage of towns named Riverside.
Two have disappeared, with only the Riverside (pop. 425) north of
Huntsville
in Walker County
remaining.
Three more names on the Top 10 list also are counted among the state's
254 county seats: Centerville
(pop. 903) in Leon
County, Mount
Pleasant (pop. 13,935) in Titus
County, and Georgetown
(pop. 28,339) in Williamson
County.
Salem, the ninth most popular name among U.S. towns, is represented
in Texas by only three populated places, each with fewer than 100
residents. Greenwood, number ten on the national list, is represented
by a suburb with two thousand residents on the west side of Midland;
by a Wise County
village (pop. 76) with its own post office, and by even smaller Greenwoods
in Hopkins and
Red River
counties.
© Bill Bradfield
January 2001
See Texas Towns
A to Z » |
The Naming
of Texas Towns
Texas
Town List - Over 3,100 Texas Towns
Texas
Ghost Towns - Over 1000 Ghost Towns
Texas
on a First-name Basis
Of the roughly 2,000 town names on the official state map, over
400 of them are first names.
Those
strange town names by Bob Bowman
While some early East Texans named their towns for families, their
hometowns or landmarks, othes were a tad more creative...
Jasper
and Newton Counties, Beyond the Sabine
Despite
odd names all over Lone Star State, 'Top 10' of the U.S. are commonplace
here by Bill Bradfield
Why
did they name it that? by Archie P. McDonald
Wonder
Why They Named it That by Archie P. McDonald
A
Geography Lesson by Bob Bowman
New
Geography - Place name tweaking of several Counties and County Seats
by Mike Cox
Place name tweaking of several Counties and County Seats
Twin
Towns by Mike Cox
Cut
and Shoot, Gun Barrel City, Gunsight, Point Blank and Winchester
by Mike Cox
Boo-boo
towns by Mike Cox
The Texas map is sprinkled with cities and towns that got their
names by mistake...
Population
Ranks by Mike Cox
The historic urban population hierarchy and population figures dating
back to 1850...
Unique
town names by Bob Bowman
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