~ What's In A Name? ~
A bit of fluff about Chatham
County
If you were to take a drive around the back roads of Chatham County, North Carolina, which is where Ailea's Place is located, you would be taken in by the sights, sounds and smells of a countryside slowly fading away. In spring and summer the smells of mown hayfields, fresh fertilizer and chicken farms steaming in the too-hot and muggy afternoon mingle with the earthy odors captured by the nose as you cross a river or pass one of the diminishing cattle farms; the cicada and tree frog songs buzz constantly. In winter the smells of wood fires fills the air, and the forest abounds with the scampering of squirrels and the sounds of cracked nut shells hitting the leaf-strewn ground.
As the populace to our north and east grows, and as more and more of the younger generation choose to not fall victim to farming as their father, their grandfathers, and the grandfathers of their grandfathers did, more and more of the Chatham County back country is being bulldozed and developed into neighborhoods, sub-divisions and micro-communities. Along with the construction, of course, comes the influx of newcomers to the "country side of life," even though most of them don't have a clue what living in the country is truly about and most of them would change it all if we but let them...
One of the best parts of driving through the back woods of Chatham, since we are losing more and more countryside every day, is the roads you travel, and their names. The older roads (now, I'm not talking about state highways...), most of which began as horse trails which widened to buggy, coach and wagon tracks, then to dirt pack, then gravel (and some of which have even been paved over the years), were named for a prominence in the immediate community.
Take, for instance, Beaver Dam Road. It is easy to figure out why this road is so named - apparently, Beaver Dam Road must have had a beaver dam located near the road somewhere, at some point.
Next to consider would be the many chapels and churches in the county. A great many of these houses of worship are also recognized by having the road on which they are located, or which might be near them, named for the church. Several examples of these would be Meroney's Chapel Church Road, Mays Chapel Road, Chatham Church Road, Rives Chapel Road, etc. These of course are but a small sampling of the umpteen minor roadways named for local churches all across Chatham County and rural North Carolina.
Another common prominence for which roads are named would be a person who might have been a large landowner on or near the road, or another citizen highly respected and prominent in the community at the time the road was named. Probably most of the roads in Chatham County (and many of North Carolina's more rural counties, I'm sure) are named for men from the community. Jay Shambly Road, DeWitt Smith Road, Wade Paschal Road and Artis Cotton Road are but a tiny fraction of those roads named for men across the county.
Another common source for names of the older roads has to do with where the road leads. For instance, the road that stretches between Pittsboro and Goldston is, if you are on the Pittsboro end of things, named Pittsboro-Goldston Road. If you live on the Goldston end of the road, however, it is known as the Goldston-Pittsboro Road. And then there is Old Sanford Highway, which used to be U.S. 15-501 leading south out of Pittsboro, as well as the Bonlee-Bennett Road (runs between the communities of Bonlee and Bennett), the Bonlee-Goldston Road (running between the community of Bonlee and the town of Goldston), Snow Camp Road, which takes you to Snow Camp, and Carthage Road, which takes you to - you guessed it - Carthage. And then there are those named for businesses, like Andrews Store Road and Reno Sharps Road, which is the name of a store, but is also the name of the store's owner.
Let us not also forget those roadways whose names are taken from Mother Nature, including Cedar Ridge, Twin Oaks Trail, Laurel Ridge Road, River Road (now, it's really not very close to the river, so why name it so?), Deep River Road, Indian Orchard and Branch Creek Road (now, is it a branch, or a creek?).
And then there are the roads named for other things. Take, for instance, Devil's Tramping Ground Road. Now this is a road made famous over the years for the area along it's south-western end known as the Devil's Tramping Ground, a few acres of wilderness whose earth seems high in alkali deposits and therefore an area barren of healthy vegetation growth; an area so called, as legend goes, because it is where the devil himself takes to walk and dance upon. You can find the history of the Devil's Tramping Ground in books on North Carolina history, especially books about the many ghosts of North Carolina. In reality, this area was used by the locals for KKK activities, lynchings, murders and other violent, covert crime, so the name suits, even if the devil never set foot upon the ground.
And then we have to look at Old Stone House Road with an obvious name history, and of course we could not possibly overlook Chicken Bridge Road. Now, THIS road is named after Chicken Bridge, which used to span the Haw River between Old NC 87 North and Crawford Dairy Road (so named, of course, for Crawford's dairy farm). Years and years and years ago, Chicken Bridge was a single-lane span across the river, with wood floor and rickety guardrails. One day a tractor-trailer hauling chickens to slaughter drove off the bridge and into the Haw River, spilling chickens everywhere - and the bridge was called Chicken Bridge from then on. Over the years that old bridge was replaced by a new one, which was still called Chicken Bridge. This newer bridge was made famous over the years at Halloween when the local folk began and maintained the tradition of lining both sides of the bridge rail with carved and lit Jack-O-Lanterns on Halloween - as many as 50 or more per side - an awesome sight to see! Even that bridge has now been replaced by a brand-spanking-new one, but the road remains Chicken Bridge Road and, because of its familiarity, the bridge is still called Chicken Bridge, but I don't know if the Halloween tradition survives this new bridge and the younger generations coming on since. Neat story, eh?
All these older roads have a great deal of history behind them, and in their making. It is along these roads you will find the oldest graveyards, homesteads and plantation houses. It is also along these older roads the now-famous traveled, from the time of the American Revolution to the Civil War, to the present.
It's the newer roads and their names, however, with which I am most fond and fascinated. Most of these newer roads are freshly cut to new developments, or are private roads or driveways that, due to implementation of the 9-1-1 system, required naming. Some of my favorites can be found along the roads which I travel most often, and most bring to mind vivid images, memories or imaginings.
One such road is named Winding Way. It is truly a winding path, going back between a quarter and a half mile over the hills and into the woods to a rough-hewn log cabin set into the side of a gently sloping hill near Bear Creek. Another, which brings the touch of a smile to my face each time I pass, is called Nana's Way. You might also find Spider Web Lane, Screech Owl Lane, Gnome Knoll, Barefoot Drive, Sibling Court, Will Be Lane, Roach Ranch Road, Possum Trail, Turtle Pond Farm Road, or Isle Of Skye. There is an entire community whose road names are derived from Viet Nam, including Ho Chi Min Trail and the like. And one day not too long ago, as I was traveling down an older road, I came across a newly-named road that immediately brought to mind my Ohio connections - the name of this road is Buckeye Ridge, and for those who do not know, Ohio is known as the Buckeye State, its state tree being - yep - the Buckeye.
No matter where you might travel through Chatham County, you are sure to find such things that might tickle your fancy as I have been lucky to find. Take a trip through our countryside some day, and find out for yourself!
Amy Butcher
November 7, 2003
Miscellaneous updates in 2003, 2004 and 2005
Final update September 21, 2008
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