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31 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, November 28, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend July 4, 2004 Hey ‘Patriot’: What’s in a name? By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune During parades, picnics and fireworks displays across the country, Americans everywhere will act and feel a little more patriotic during Fourth of July celebrations today. But only 932 people across the land can legitimately call themselves Patriots. They are the 730 people who live in Patriot, Ohio, and the 202 others whose mail gets delivered to Patriot, Ind. Twenty-four creeks, mines, parks, schools, mountains and other geographic features carry the name Patriot. But only those two towns sport this particular thematic name. And that’s nothing compared to the 528 places named Independence — including one in Oregon — and 323 named Freedom sprinkled across the country. This little holiday name-game comes courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, the official keeper of America’s geographic names since the agency was founded 125 years ago. Advertisement The agency has logged more than 2 million official names of geographic features in the United States and its territories. And a quick search through its computer archives tells some interesting stories about American nomenclature. Sometimes it even surprises Roger Payne, the executive secretary of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. "Oh my lord," Payne said Friday while running "Fourth of July" through the database. "There’s 36 features called Fourth of July Creek. I had no idea." And who would have guessed there are also 60 Fourth of July mines, creeks, peaks and other features — including two Fourth of July creeks and one spring in Oregon? Seems the water there reminded someone of Old Glory, but it’s hard to prove. Less than 1 percent of the USGS’s official names come with an explanation of when and why they were called what they were called, Payne said. "I think it’s safe to assume that in a circumstance like Fourth of July Creek, that’s why it was named," said Payne, based in Reston, Va. "But is Independence, Mo., for the same reason? I’d have to look that up because what appears to be obvious is not always the case." Makes you wonder about Firecracker, a mine in Inyo County, Calif. Ditto for Stars and Stripes Park in both Illinois and Oklahoma, and the Red, White and Blue Beach just outside of Santa Cruz, Calif. There are 36 places with Constitution somewhere in their names, and there’s an Old Glory oil field in Texas. There is a Salute Mine in Colorado, a Salute Cemetery in Tennessee. Perhaps the best spot for fireworks is in Fireworks, Mass., the only town so named in the United States’ 50 states, two commonwealths and three territories. But there’s not a single registered Kaboom in America. And here’s something they don’t teach in civics class: with the 323 Freedoms, there come zero places named Responsibility. Payne said America experienced a flurry of patriotic names after the Revolutionary War, including several places named for war heroes. "It’s a good thing to do," Payne said. "It makes you feel good, and it’s done with a celebratory feeling." But the feel-good folks of the Rogue Valley don’t seem to share the rest of the country’s zest for all names patriotic. None of the above patriotic words or phrases appears in the name of any USGS-listed feature in Jackson or Josephine counties — except for Old Glory Mine near York Butte in Josephine County. If it’s been named, you can find it Anyone hooked up to the World Wide Web can play the patriotic name-game, or check for any name registered to a city, mountain, mine or other feature as logged by the U.S. Geological Survey. First, get to the agency’s Web site at http://geography.usgs.gov/ and then click on "Geographic Names" under the "Products" section. Once there, look under "Query GNIS: U.S. and territories." Listings include variant names, map locations and even information on what watershed the feature is in. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities