What's the most unusual place name in Wilcox County, Alabama?

Last week in this space, I wrote about an online article called “The Creepiest Places To Visit In Every State.” Not long after The Progressive Era hit the streets last week, a reader sent me another article titled “Top 10 Bizarre U.S. Town Names,” which was published on the website, Listverse.com. I was interested to see if any Alabama towns made the list, and I was somewhat disappointed to see that places like Burnt Corn, Scratch Ankle and Slapout hadn’t made the cut.

Towns with unusual names that were mentioned in the article included Swastika, New York; Accident, Maryland; Knockemstiff, Ohio; Buttzville, New Jersey; Humptulips, Washington; Boogertown, North Carolina; Nothing, Arizona; No Name, Colorado; Truth or Consequences, New Mexico; and Satan’s Kingdom, Massachusetts.

Reading about all of these unusual names got me to thinking about some of the unusual place names in Wilcox County. As it turns out, there are quite a few. Here are a few words about some of the unusual place names that I found while reviewing some old Wilcox County maps.

Annemanie: Located in the northwestern part of the county on State Highway 5, north of Pine Hill, this community was named after Anne, the daughter of A.M. Manie. A post office was established here in 1893. Sometimes, this community’s name is spelled as two words, “Anne Manie.”

Awin: When this community’s first post office was established in 1881, Jack Murray Williams was appointed to serve as its first postmaster. Among his first duties, Williams was tasked with giving the post office an official name, and he proceeded to ask people of the community what name they preferred. Exactly how Williams went about doing this is unclear, but he apparently compiled a list of several suitable names. According to “Place Names in Alabama” by Virginia O. Foscue, Williams wrote “A win” beside the name on the list that the majority of residents favored. Williams sent his list to postal officials who were to give the post office its official name, but they apparently became confused and took Williams’s “A win” comment to be the chosen name.

Burl: Located in the southeastern part of the county, not far from McWilliams, this community was also known as Watsons Crossing. The Burl post office was in operation from 1914 to 1958. Foresters in the reading audience will tell you that a “burl” is a rounded knotty growth on a tree that’s commonly seen on tree trunks and sometimes on branches.

Corkville: This old community was located in the southeastern part of the county, just west of Schuster Springs. At one time, it was once large enough to support a post office. In fact, sources say that there was a post office there between 1898 to 1903.

Eggville: Eggville was located between Oak Hill and Pine Apple on what is now State Highway 10. There’s not much at Eggville nowadays, but it’s one of the oldest communities in Wilcox County. It can be seen on county maps as far back as 1868, right after the Civil War.

Fairplay: The old Fairplay community was located on the west side of Bear Creek, northwest of Pine Apple. A post office operated there from 1831 to 1842. It was found on county maps up until around 1882.

Lower Peach Tree: According to “Place Names in Alabama,” this community was “given the same designation as that of one of the two Indian villages once in this area. Benjamin Hawkins, the Creek Indian agent, had introduced peaches to the Indians around 1800. During the Creek War of 1813-14, the soldiers finding peaches at these two abandoned Indian settlements called the southernmost one Lower Peach Tree and the other one Upper Peach Tree.”

Pine Apple: According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, this town was originally called Friendship, but was incorporated as Pine Apple in 1872. Sources say that the town was called Pine Apple because of all the pine trees and apple trees in and around the small town.

Sunny South: According to “Place Names in Alabama,” Sunny South was “named for the Sunny South, a steamboat destroyed by fire in 1867 at Portland, a dead town once located on the banks of the Alabama River in Dallas County.”

In the end, if anyone in the reading audience has any additional information about how these places got their names, please let me hear from you. Also, if you know of any other unusual place names in Wilcox County not listed above, please let me know. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there are a few more unusual names out there.