The Literature Lesson Behind Columbia’s Streets
Story behind the street signs of Columbia
Has the cabin fever set in already? Seriously, though. The kids aren’t even going out to the bus stop, let alone around the neighborhood. Well, we might have a solution.
You might already know this, but Columbia’s neighborhoods are a built-in literature lesson! Most of the street names are derived from the works of poets, authors and artists. Here’s a Baltimore Sun article that talks a lot about those names and their origins.
Street name references from each village
Here are some neat examples of streets and what they’re named after:
Dorsey’s Search
Tarkington Place – reference to Ogden Nash poem called “Thou Should’st Be Living in This Hour”
Harper’s Choice
Wood Elves Way – reference to J.K. Tolkien’s novel, The Fellowship of the Ring
Hickory Ridge
Snuffbox Terrace – reference to Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
King’s Contrivance
Strawturkey Court – named for Alan Lomax’s folk song called “Turkey in the Straw”
Long Reach
Kind Rain – reference to (John) Robinson Jeffers’ poem, “Summer Holiday”
Oakland Mills
Sohap Lane – reference to Carl Sandburg’s poem, “If So Hap May Be”
Owen Brown
Pigeonwing Place – reference to Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “Angelina”
River Hill
Reedy Song Knoll – reference to Walt Whitman’s poem, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”
Towne Center
Amesbury Drive – named for Robert Frost’s poem, “A Blue Ribbon at Amesbury”
Wilde Lake
Greek Boy Place – named for William Cullen Bryant’s poem, “The Greek Boy”
And that’s just the start!
Explore more about Columbia’s streets
The new Columbia Maryland Archives site has an entire Place Name database. You can log on and search for street names around your neighborhood and look into the origin. Just scroll over the Search option, click on Place Name and see what you can find. Check out the book at Howard County Library. Write something new based on the road you live on. Make more art based on the art that your neighborhood is named after.
EXTRA CREDIT: There’s a lot of history here in Columbia. We have some great stops to consider in our Guide to Distance Learning Success. Submit your email for a downloadable PDF on our School Age Services page. 👇👇👇
For more tips, check out the CA Parents’ Corner blog.
“When Plan “A” doesn’t work, don’t worry, you still have 25 more letters to go through.” – Unknown