I drove back by Old Slave Road, and was surprised to see that the road is now signed with its historic name, as well as its modern name, Spiceberry Lane.
When I was living in Chesterfield from '68 to '81 (before it was Weste Countye), there was a movement by some Olive Street Road subdivisions to change the name of Hog Hollow Road to a white-bread and "more suitable to the times" name. While I forget the actual names proposed, they followed a theme like "Fairview Road" and "Hill-to-Hollowe Road" - kinda like the WASPy "Spiceberry Lane" Martha Stewart manufactured name. Fortunately the County Government held fast to history.
The recent successful effort of the newbies to select the name of "Wildwood" over the historic names of "Glencoe" and (Heavens!) hillbilly "Pond" reflect the trend away from time-honored place names to more genteel names is ludicrous - kinda like "Centre" instead of "Center" and "Towne" rather than "Town'"
And don't get me started on "Chesterfield Valley" rather than "Gumbo!" I lost a prominent developer as a customer back in the mid-'90s when I poo-pooed the CV moniker instead of Gumbo; turned out he was a prime proponent of the name change and owned beaucoup acres which turned into the sprawl down there.
Ah yes, the old changing names of neighborhoods in order to put your brand on an area. My favorite (or most egregious) example is the Shaw neighborhood in Washington, DC. Shaw was equated with the old residents, ie poor, so the gentrifiers had tried to get it renamed Blagden Alley/ Naylor Court, after ONE street in the neighborhood. The long time residents fought back, and the Shaw neighborhood name stuck.
When I was living in Chesterfield from '68 to '81 (before it was Weste Countye), there was a movement by some Olive Street Road subdivisions to change the name of Hog Hollow Road to a white-bread and "more suitable to the times" name. While I forget the actual names proposed, they followed a theme like "Fairview Road" and "Hill-to-Hollowe Road" - kinda like the WASPy "Spiceberry Lane" Martha Stewart manufactured name. Fortunately the County Government held fast to history.
ReplyDeleteThe recent successful effort of the newbies to select the name of "Wildwood" over the historic names of "Glencoe" and (Heavens!) hillbilly "Pond" reflect the trend away from time-honored place names to more genteel names is ludicrous - kinda like "Centre" instead of "Center" and "Towne" rather than "Town'"
And don't get me started on "Chesterfield Valley" rather than "Gumbo!" I lost a prominent developer as a customer back in the mid-'90s when I poo-pooed the CV moniker instead of Gumbo; turned out he was a prime proponent of the name change and owned beaucoup acres which turned into the sprawl down there.
Ah yes, the old changing names of neighborhoods in order to put your brand on an area. My favorite (or most egregious) example is the Shaw neighborhood in Washington, DC. Shaw was equated with the old residents, ie poor, so the gentrifiers had tried to get it renamed Blagden Alley/ Naylor Court, after ONE street in the neighborhood. The long time residents fought back, and the Shaw neighborhood name stuck.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc67.htm