#43 Biblical Names
Arkansas is dotted with many places that bear the name of cities or other features of the Holy Land, including the land itself, as in Canaan in Searcy County and Palestine in St. Francis County. From Ain in Grant County to Zion, which has been the name of many towns and cemeteries, Arkansans have amply demonstrated their knowledge of biblical geography. Others include Jericho in Crittenden County, Bethlehem in Johnson County, the healing springs of Bethesda in Washington County, and of course Siloam Springs, named for the pool in Jerusalem. Places not in the Holy Land but prominent in the Bible include Damascus in Van Buren and Faulkner Counties, and Patmos in Hempstead County, named for the Greek island where Saint John received the Revelations. Perhaps the most interesting biblical name is that of the Perry County town of Nimrod, named for the biblical hunter of Genesis 10, or perhaps because some of the early settlers had come from Nimrod Hill in Tennessee.
Daniel Boice
University of Arkansas at Monticello