In my last column, I addressed a little mystery having to do with the name of Perry County’s own Sherman Creek, which somehow lost an “s” in the early part of the 20th century. The most visible evidence of this is the new sign on the bridge of PA-34 in Sherman’s Dale, which reads “Sherman Creek,” and which sits side by side with the old sign, which reads, “Shermans Creek.”
All of the 19th century reference books I consulted listed its name as “Sherman’s Creek,” with an “s.”
Everyone I talked to about this referred to it as “Shermans Creek,” with an “s.” And I talked to plenty of people, including 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.”
I traced the new name, “Sherman Creek,” to a key federal database, United States Geological Survey’s Geographical Names Information System (GNIS), which is the federal government’s Bible of place-naming.
I wondered how a body of water, known locally by one name, could suddenly find its name altered by the Feds.
I got in touch with Linda Zarr, the public’s first point of contact at the U.S.G.S. Pennsylvania Water Science Center. Linda was kind enough to consult all the topographic maps and gazetteers at her disposal. The result?
“The name is “Sherman Creek” on every single map and reference I have. These are quads that go back to the early Fifties.”
Linda suggested that I get in touch with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
So I Googled the name and read up on this obscure, but very important division within the U.S. Geological Survey. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) was set up in 1890 to “maintain uniform geographic name usage throughout the Federal Government.”
The date of its founding coincides roughly with the closing of the American frontier. The United States’s great expansion—at least its domestic expansion—was practically complete. It was time to make sense of the monstrous grab-bag of names and spellings in every town and holler. The country needed to know what to call itself, down to the last hamlet and creek.
It’s hard to imagine a more daunting task. History teaches us that geographic names are land mines. Wars are fought over them. Should it be called Czechoslovakia, or the Sudetenland? Obviously, Mr. Hitler’s opinion swung to the latter.
But even minor place names present problems. If locals in one county call a creek one thing, and locals in the adjacent county call it something else, whose name is right?
Aside from the political conflicts inherent in place names, there are also subtleties of dialect and spelling. Case in point: one man’s “Sherman Creek” is another man’s “Shermans.”
In other words, making a map is a hornet’s nest of competing interests and facts. That’s why there’s a single decision-making body charged with sorting out the details and regularizing the names.
The website for the U.S. Board on Geographical Names is very imposing, as many government websites are. If, after reading about the Board’s august history and its crucial, nation-shaping function, you still have the temerity to want to get in touch, a single contact is listed: Mr. Lou Yost, Executive Secretary, U.S. Board on Geographical Names, U.S. Geological Survey.
I dialed the number. When the receptionist answered, I said, “Hi, my name is Matthew Olshan. I’m researching a column for the Perry County Times about the name of our creek, which has mysteriously lost its “s.” I know this is a trivial issue, and I hate to waste anyone’s time, but I’d really appreciate some help getting to the bottom of it. Can you please put me in touch with the right person?”
The receptionist, a very friendly fellow, said, “Well, uh, I guess that person would be me.”
So I started to explain Sherman Creek’s missing “s.” The receptionist seemed very knowledgeable.
When he started talking about the creation of the national database of names in the Seventies, and how that database was built from transcriptions of the old topographic quads, something occurred to me.
“Excuse me,” I said, “but are you Lou Yost, Executive Secretary of the U.S. Board on Geographical Names?”
He corrected the pronunciation of his last name, but then said, “Uh, yes, that’s me.”
“And you don’t mind talking about a missing letter on a creek in Perry County, Pennsylvania?”
“That’s pretty much my job.”
So we got down to it.
Some time in early twentieth century, when the U.S.G.S. surveyors were researching the area to create Perry County’s quads, the name of the creek was noted as “Sherman Creek.” While surveyor’s notes do exist, Mr. Yost was doubtful that they’d shed much light. It’s possible that the loss of the “s” was simply a typographical error that was then propagated by the map-makers.
Whatever the reason, the name is officially “Sherman Creek.”
Unless we, as a community, decide we want to change it back.
Mr. Yost described the name-change process to me. It’s Byzantine, and it moves at the speed of, well, geography. So it would take at least a year.
But we have an excellent case. The history books tell us the name is “Sherman’s.” Locals agree that the name is “Shermans.” Even the official sign that marked the old bridge reads, “Shermans Creek.”
If that isn’t a slam dunk, I don’t know what is.
We won’t be able to get the apostrophe before the “s.” Apostrophes apparently went out of place names in 1909 or so.
But we can have our “s” back. And with it, Shermans Creek.
If you feel strongly about the name change, one way or the other, please email me at mdolshan@perrycountytimes.com.
This column was published in the Perry Co Times on 17 September 2009
For more information, please contact Mr. Olshan at writing@matthewolshan.com
