Why Is It Called That?

BY: BEATRICE ICEMAN

While driving around our area, did you ever think about how places got their names? 

Many origins are obvious. Someone back in the 1700s wanted to get in good with King George II's Secretary of State, John Russell. And he was ...wait for it... the Fourth Duke of Bedford. That one is easy. Just like Franklin County was named for Benjamin and Pittsylvania County for British Prime Minister William Pitt. 

Now things get more complicated. And please remember that the mists of history are often hard to see through. The following name origins are sometimes good guesses, but my research (thank you to all the many sources) says they are (probably) accurate. 

In 1880, John Thaxton built a store and wanted to add a post office. But you can't have a post office without a place name. It just so happens that Mrs. Thaxton was a fan of the English writer John Keats and had read his poem The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream. In it, Keats wrote about the Roman goddess Juno Moneta. Mrs. suggested the name. Mr. listened to his wife because clearly, he was a smart man, but he left off the Juno part, and there you have it -- Moneta. 

Union Hall. The name has nothing to do with trade unions. In the old days, worshippers in our area often could not afford to build their own churches. Too expensive. So, some area Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians got together to build a church they all could share (just not at the same time, I presume). They constructed a "Union Hall" place of worship. Or so it’s said. 

And Boones Mill? Not named after Daniel but his descendant, Jacob, who built a grist mill on the Maggodee Creek. Then there's Pigg Creek, Hales Ford, Hardy, Burnt Chimney, Wirtz, Leesville Lake, Smith Mountain, Danville (by the way, not named after a man named Dan.) Don’t even get me started on Roanoke. We'll save those for another time…

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Beatrice Iceman is a life-long writer, editor, and teacher of writing on both the corporate and university levels. She has enjoyed the beauty, culture, and history of life at Smith Mountain Lake for 20 years.