I’d like to take a moment to thank all the readers who have emailed me at mdolshan@perrycountytimes.com. A writer’s life is solitary by nature. Hearing from readers is a real bright spot.
Most of the time.
In particular, I’m very grateful for the response to my previous columns about the missing “s” of Sherman(s) Creek.
Every single email supported the return of the missing “s.” Although for different reasons.
One reader saw the missing “s” as a sign of pervasive cultural decadence.
Another, who has lived in Perry County all the sixty-six years of his life, saw in the name change the unstoppable steamroller of progress.
One emailer, after using the magic word three times (“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get the creek back to where it belongs…”) worried that the missing “s” was a harbinger of worse things to come. Would Shermans Dale next? Or should I say “Sherman Dale…”
The creek’s official new name, minus the “s,” was vilified in other emails as lame-sounding, erroneous, and lazy.
I couldn’t agree more.
Which is why I called Lou Yost over at the U.S. Board on Geographic Names at the U.S. Geological Survey to get the ball rolling on changing it back.
Avid readers of this column will have already met Mr. Yost. He was the friendly man who fielded my initial telephone call about the missing “s,” and who helped me determine that the source of the name change was most likely a transcription error from the field notes of a U.S.G.S. surveyor, dating from the early to mid 20th century.
Mr. Yost also happens to be the Executive Director of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, and is thus a very big cheese indeed.
Even so, he answers his own phone and seems to have plenty of time to discuss arcana like a missing letter in the name of a small body of water in south central Pennsylvania. Which leads one to think that perhaps the world of geographic naming isn’t exactly a hotbed of activity.
Mr. Yost kindly directed me to the form I needed to download and fill out, and apologized that the process wasn’t more efficient. Soon, outraged citizens will be able to pursue their name changes completely online.
Here’s the cover note I wrote him:
Dear Mr. Yost,
Thank you for all of your help to date in sorting out the mysterious disappearance of the “s” from Perry County, Pennsylvania’s beloved Sherman(s) Creek.
To summarize: this year, a new bridge was built over the creek in Shermans Dale. When the new signage went up, I, along with many other county residents, noticed that the name of the creek had changed from “Shermans Creek” to “Sherman Creek,” without an “s.”
Attached you’ll find a photo which shows the old, correct sign side by side with the new, incorrect one.
I started digging into this mystery, hoping, in the process, to find the missing “s.”
I consulted several histories of Perry County, including H.H. Hain’s History of Perry County (1922), which refers throughout to “Sherman’s Creek.”
An even older history of Perry County written by Silas Wright and published in 1873 refers to the creek as “Sherman’s Creek.”
A more official survey, E.W. Claypole’s Preliminary Report on the Paleontology of Perry County, a volume in the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 2nd series, describes the creek as “Sherman’s Creek.”
(By the way, I understand, and have explained to readers of the Perry County Times, for which I write a weekly op-ed column, that apostrophes went out some time in the early 20th century. Not to worry. We’d be happy just getting our “s” back.)
So there seems to be consensus in the printed histories of the county about having the “s” on “Shermans.”
Turning my attention to the present day, I got in touch with Linda Sieber, Chair of the Shermans Creek Conservation Association; Sally Tengeres, Watershed Coordinator, Perry County Conservation District; and Jim Kapp of the Perry Historians.
All of them were puzzled about the missing “s.” None could remember a single instance of any local resident, living or dead, calling the creek “Sherman Creek.”
Finally, I presented my research into two op-ed pieces in the Perry County Times, and asked readers to contact me if they were interested in changing the name back to “Shermans Creek.”
The response wasn’t overwhelming, but it was unanimous: we want our “s” back!
I’ve downloaded the form for proposing a domestic name change, and will send it to you under a separate cover. We’re all looking forward to correcting the name of the creek in the Geographic Names Information System database, and thus restoring Shermans Creek to its rightful place on the map.
All the best,
Matthew Olshan
This column was published in the Perry Co Times on 15 October 2009
For more information, please contact Mr. Olshan at writing@matthewolshan.com
