Illinois Press Blog » Place Names of Illinois

Illinois Place Name of the Day – November 3, 2008

michael — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:30:50 +0000

The official publication date of Edward Callary’s Place Names of Illinois has arrived. I conclude our month-long feature with the derivation of our state’s name.

Illinois. State. The name is from the Illinois, a group of loosely organized but independent tribesâ€”often described as a confederationâ€”which spoke a common language and shared a number of historical and cultural traditions. The number of tribes composing the Illinois is variously reported but include the Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Tamaroa, Peoria, and Michigamea. The language of the Illinois was nearly identical with that of the Miami and is usually referred to as Miami-Illinois. Illinois is not the name the Illinois people called themselves; rather, they were the Inoca, a name of unknown origin and meaning. The name from which Illinois is derived apparently originated in the Miami dialect of Miami-Illinois and was taken into Ojibwa, where it was modified to fit Ojibwa morphology and phonology. It was recorded in 1640 as Eriniouai, in 1656 as Liniouek, in 1657 as Aliniouek, and about 1666 as Iliniouek (pronouned approximately ilinoowek]). The name was subsequently taken into French, where the Ojibwa plural suffix -wek was changed to French -ois (The pronounciation at this time was approximately [ilinway].) By the early 1670s the name began to appear in its current form. (For an extendedâ€”albeit technicalâ€”discussion of the etymology of Illinois, see Costa, “Illinois.”) As far as can be determined, the first to offer a meaning for the name was Marquette, who wrote, “When one speaks the word â€˜Illinois’ it is as if one said in their language â€˜the men,’â€”As if the other Savages were looked upon by them merely as animals.” This interpretation was extended and embellished over the years, and the word has been claimed to mean “excellent people,” “superior people,” or “perfect and accomplished people.” Costa finds these interpretations to be little more than popular etymologies and offers the translation “I speak in the regular way” or “I speak my language.” At least one ingenious popular etymology of Illinois has been reported (apparently seriously) by no less an authority than a governor of Illinois. In his Pioneer History of Illinois, John Reynolds offered a second etymology: that the name was an English adaptation of French ÃŽsle aux Nois [sic] (Island of Nuts), a name early French explorers gave to an island in the Mississippi River that abounded in black walnut groves. There is no evidence to support this claim other than the fact that the French did bestow that name on a number of occasions (there are four ÃŽles aux Noix in Quebec alone). Illinois was admitted to the union as the twenty-first state on Dec. 3, 1818. The northern boundary was to have been near the foot of Lake Michigan, at the approximate latitude of the current northern boundary of Indiana. Through the efforts of Nathaniel Pope (for whom Pope County is named and the territorial representative in Congress), the boundary was moved some fifty miles north (Bright, Native American Placenames; Costa, “Illinois,” 46—47; Reynolds, The Pioneer History of Illinois, 24).

Illinois Place Name of the Day – October 31, 2008

michael — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:02:30 +0000

West Point. Hancock. Village (1893) eleven miles south of Carthage. Formerly known as Pumpkinville and then as Wigletown, named for early settler David Wigle. Renamed in 1856 for their former home, West Point, N.Y., by Wigle’s wife, who felt this was a more dignified name than Wigletown (Historic Sites, 320). Post office established March 31, 1858.

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

Illinois Place Name of the Day – Oct. 30, 2008

michael — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:09:07 +0000

Sneak Out. Franklin. Former community. Supposedly named for the otherwise respectable citizens who would sneak out of their houses, get drunk, and sneak back home. According to Sneed (Ghost Towns of Southern Illinois, 30), Sneak Out had one jail in the 1870s as well as one sawmill, two stores, and six saloons. Now part of Parrish.

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

Illinois Place Name of the Day – Oct. 29, 2008

michael — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:20:45 +0000

Ipava [eye PAY vuh]. Fulton. Village (1853, 1872) nine miles west-southwest of Lewistown. Platted for John Easley as Easleyburg in 1846 and apparently replatted as Pleasantville later that same year. A post office was established, also as Pleasantville, on Sept. 13, 1847, and renamed Ipava on Dec. 1, 1852. Beyond these few facts, little is certain; the namer of Ipava, the source of the name, and the circumstances surrounding the naming are unknown, although there has been no dearth of speculation. Wayne Azbell, in his History of Ipava, has the most complete account of the suggestions that have been offered to explain the name. First, that it is an adaptation of the name of Henry Pavey, who operated a hardware store in Ipava (this story persists even though Pavey did not arrive until 1869, at least seventeen years after the name had become established). Second, that it is derived from the name of the proprietor of a junkyard near the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy tracks that was announced by a sign reading “Isaac Pava.” Railroad employees supposedly said they were going to “I. Pava.” Third, that community officials sought a more distinctive name than Pleasantville and found Ipava, the name of a remote island, in a world gazetteer (unfortunately, that account does not say where the island is to be found). And, fourth, that the name was suggested by a Dr. Johnson, a world traveler who was visiting relatives in Pleasantville. He is said to have remarked, “I will give you a name that will not be found in North America” and offered Ipava, alleging it to be the name of a lake in South America. The source of the name may lie in a personal name. “Pava” is an uncommon surname, but at present there are about one hundred residential telephone listings in the United States under that name. The name may have a more exotic origin. Azbell notes that a small native community in Brazil, called Igarapava, may have been visited by the mysterious Dr. Johnson and may, in a shortened form, have provided the model for Ipava, Ill. Irwin has uncovered the variant spelling “Ipavia” in the 1871 Atlas of Fulton County, and although it is likely a transcription error, given that the post office was established earlier as Ipava, more than five hundred U.S. telephone subscribers have the surname Pavia. The source of this intriguing name remains a mystery (Azbell, A History of Ipava; Irwin, A to Z Fulton County).

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

Illinois Place Name of the Day – Oct. 28, 2008

michael — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:56:13 +0000

On November 3, 2008, we are publishing Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary. Every weekday since October 1 we have posted one of the book’s nearly 3,000 entries. Today is a two-fer:

LaSalle. LaSalle. City (1852, 1876). Platted about 1838 for the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commission. The sale of building lots helped finance construction of the I&M (City of LaSalle, 1, 8). Post office established Feb. 10, 1836, as Peru; changed to LaSalle Jan. 10, 1838.

Peru. LaSalle. City (1845, 1890). Established by the commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1835. The source of the name is uncertain; several writers claim it was derived from “an Indian word” meaning “plenty of everything, wealth.” Others say the name was taken directly from the country in South
America, which had gained independence from Spain in 1824 and was therefore looked upon sympathetically by many Americans. A more likely immediate source, however, is Peru in Clinton County, N.Y., near Plattsburgh. The Illinois and Michigan Canal, when it was begun in the mid-1830s, attracted a large number of engineers, executives, and laborers who had worked on the Erie Canal in New York and brought a number of New York place names with them, including Utica and Seneca, which were laid out along the path of the I&M. Peru may have been another. Peru Township was organized about 1850 as Salisbury, named by Theron D. Brewster, the first mayor of Peru, for his former home, Salisbury, Conn. (Hansen, ed., Illinois, 494; Gannett, The Origin of Certain Place Names; Rasmusen, LaSalle County Lore, 197; Vogel, Indian Place Names in Illinois). Post office established Feb. 10, 1836.

Illinois Place Name of the Day – Oct. 27, 2008

michael — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:15:18 +0000

Nauvoo [nah VOO, naw VOO]. Hancock. City (1841, 1899) six miles south of Fort Madison, Iowa. The area around modern Nauvoo was known as Quashquema, named for a minor Sauk leader of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Quashquema (Jumping Fish) was coerced or tricked by William Henry Harrison into signing over a large tract of northwestern Illinois to the United States in 1804. The community was established as Venus in the 1820s by early settler James White and was later known as Commerce. When the Mormons were expelled from Missouri in 1839, they crossed the Mississippi River and established Nauvoo on the site. Joseph Smith, the founder and prophet of the Mormon Church, created the name, claiming that he had derived it from the Hebrew root nawa (na-va) and that it meant “beautiful lace” (Bateman and Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Hancock County, 834, 1089; Hagan, The Sac and Fox Indians, 25; History of Hancock County, 394). Post office established March 13, 1830, as Venus; changed to Commerce Oct. 11, 1834; changed to Nauvoo April 21, 1840.

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

Illinois Place Name of the Day – Oct. 24, 2008

michael — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:48:51 +0000

Hoopeston [HUP stuhn]. Vermilion. City (1877). Modern Hoopeston is the result of an early 1870s merger of three communities: Hoopeston, laid out by Thomas Hoopes and Joseph Satterwhaite; North Hoopeston, laid out by Alba Honeywell; and Leeds, established by the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad. Railroad officials proposed to name the station after Honeywell, who declined and in turn suggested Hoopeston, for Thomas Hoopes (Cox, comp., A History of Hoopeston, 1—2). Post office established Oct. 25, 1871.

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

Illinois Place Name of the Day – Oct. 23, 2008

michael — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:17:22 +0000

Coffee. Wabash. Precinct. Also Coffee Island and Coffee Creek. The traditional story is that a keelboat loaded with coffee was proceeding up the Wabash River and took shelter for the night at the mouth of what is now Coffee Creek, about seven miles below Mount Carmel. In the morning, the boat was found capsized,
and the cargo of coffee was lost (Bateman and Selby, eds., Illinois Historical Wabash County Biographical, 644).

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

Illinois Place Name of the Day – Oct. 22, 2008

michael — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:25:00 +0000

Cairo. Alexander. City (1818, 1873). Chartered in 1818 as the City and Bank of Cairo by John G. Comegys, Shadrach Bond (the first governor of the state of Illinois and the namesake of Bond County), and several others who organized a land company for the purpose of developing the southern tip of Illinois. The enterprise collapsed, and the land lay vacant until 1835, when it was reentered by the Cairo City and Canal Company. According to most sources, Comegys named the community for Cairo, Egypt, because it lies at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, much as Cairo, Egypt, lies along the Nile. This account is certainly plausible. For a number of years before Cairo was founded, the Mississippi River was known as the American Nile, and that may indeed have inspired the original site owners. In 1940, however, Barry Gilbert claimed that his grandfather, Miles Gilbert, one of the incorporators of the Cairo City and Canal Company, told him that “people were mistaken in thinking that it was named Cairo because of the rivers, but that it had been named for a man who was known as â€˜Dr. Cairo’ and who called himself Care-o” (“KI-RO?” 360). Unfortunately, a likely Dr. Cairo has yet to be found. The local pronunciation is regularly [KER o], but outside of southern Illinois one is as likely as not to hear [KAY ro] (see Egypt) (Illinois Guide; Wade, The Urban Frontier, 64). Post office established Nov. 8, 1837, as Mouth of Ohio; changed to Cairo Sept. 16, 1839.

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

Better known around here as “Karo, like the syrup,” Cairo is one of those place-names that can completely confuse visitors from near and far. Paducah, KY, is ever-so-slightly north of east.

Illinois Place Name of the Day – Oct. 21, 2008

michael — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:20:09 +0000

Kinmundy. Marion. City (1867, 1875) ten miles northeast of Salem. Laid out about 1857 on the line of the Illinois Central Railroad by William T. Sprouse and named for the birthplace in Scotland of William Ferguson, a British stockholder in the IC. Ferguson visited Illinois in 1856 (Ackerman, Early Illinois Railroads, 130—31; Kinmundy, 11). Post office established July 14, 1855.

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary