About a town called “Fat Back.”
“How you call yourself a musician, and ain’t never been to New Orleans.”
“You ever been to Fat Back, Arkansas? All right, then. Ain’t never been nothing in New Orleans I couldn’t get in Fat Back.”
-Levee and Slow Drag, Act I
————
Right, so what about this Fat Back, Arkansas? Does or did it exist? Faedra is investigating the matter, and in the meanwhile provided the following excerpt ”from an interesting article from [Arkansas’] Department of Parks and Tourism website about the state’s many unusual town names.” She also noted that ”if nothing else, the [excerpt] demonstrates the creative impulses in the creation of city names in Arkansas (and elsewhere, for that matter). One can only imagine why/how a place like ‘Fatback, Arkansas’—whether real or imagined—got its name…”
Here’s an edited version:
Arkansas’s Unusual Town Names Amuse Some, Intrigue Others
With an array of communities such as Hogeye, Greasy Corner, Ink, Snowball, Romance, Apt, and Smackover, Arkansas may seem to have a monopoly on funny city names…
While some people, especially visitors, are amused by the state’s unusual town names, others are attempting to learn and record how communities and landmarks received their identities. In Sharp County, for example, the local historical society is engaged in writing histories about every community and school site within its boundaries.
With over 1,300 cities, towns and communities listed on the official Arkansas highway map, the state has perhaps 1,000 other places too small to list. Thus, some of the most colorful and locally important places are in danger of being lost to history.
It’s clear that a majority of Arkansas places are named for individuals. Everyone from presidents to preachers, and postmasters to prominent ladies have been honored…
A few Arkansas towns have “coined” names, derived from parts of other names. Texarkana, for example, was created from parts of the names of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana…
Arkansas’s wealth of mineral resources also apparently helped in naming Bauxite, Marble, Limedale, Zinc, Coal Hill, Onyx, and Lead Hill…
Toad Suck, which probably ranks at the top of the Natural State’s most unusual town names, was a legendary steamboat landing on the Arkansas River. The site reportedly had a popular tavern where liquor flowed freely. A popular legend says the rivermen would “suck whiskey until they swelled like toads.” …
Some names happen by accident or mistake. When William E. Lynch opened his new trading post in 1846, tradition says he accidentally dropped some cotton seeds while carrying provisions into the new business. The seeds sprouted and matured in view of Mr. Lynch’s customers, who started calling it the “Cotton Plant” store. This funny town name became official when the post office was opened at Cotton Plant in 1853…
A misunderstanding by the postal department reportedly resulted in the naming of a small community in Searcy County. In the late 1880s, local citizens wanted to honor Ben Snow for his contributions to the area. They petitioned Washington for the name “Snow Hall,” but somewhere along the paper trail it became Snowball…
Pleasant Hill was the choice for a new post office in Stone County back in 1905. However, the postal authorities rejected that name because Arkansas already had a Pleasant Hill. The second choice was the number of the local school district and it was accepted. That’s how the town of Fifty-Six got its name….
Local tradition says that a Polk County school teacher sent out notes to patrons requesting possible names for their new post office. Fearing penciled entries might be difficult to read, she requested that they please “write in ink.” Many did…and Ink was the winner…
To take a glance through the excerpt provided by Faedra, click “read more” and march onward.
