For Little Rock Public Radio, this is Dan Boice, with Naming Arkansas.
Many places in Arkansas are named for powerful men, such as governors, presidents, or military commanders. But a surprising number of towns bear the name of small girls. These include Eudora, named by plantation owner E.C. James for his daughter, Frances Eudora.
Sylvanus Phillips, for whom Phillips County is named, named the county seat for his daughter Helena.
Up in Mississippi County, Luxora was named for little Luxora Waller, the daughter of a prominent citizen.
Marianna was named in 1852 for either the town’s leading citizen, Mary Anne Harland, or for her two daughters, Mary and Anna.
The Ouachita County town of Louann was so named in 1891 by grateful railroad workers in honor of little Louann Wells who used to bring the workers buckets of spring water.
Hope was named by railroad executive James Loughborough for his daughter Hope.
And so if the race is not always to the swift, the town name is not always to the most powerful man.
For the University of Arkansas at Monticello, this is Dan Boice.