By: Melinda Krick, Paulding County Bicentennial Committee
Part 2 of 2
This article originally was written for Visions Volume 6, published by the Paulding County Progress in 2005. Some entries have been updated.
PAULDING – There’s a history behind every name of every township, waterway, town, school and landmark. Here are more Paulding County place names:
Jackson – (Township) Probably for President Andrew Jackson.
Jacquette – Unknown. Possibly a family name. A post office was established there from 1867-69.
Junction – For the junction of the Wabash & Erie Canal and the Miami & Erie Canal, once thought destined to become a metropolis.
Knoxdale – (Also Knox) Possibly for the first Secretary of War, Henry Knox. Other possibilities are that it was named for Knox County, Ohio, or for a family named Knox.
Latty – (Township, Village) The township was organized in 1855 and named in honor of Alexander Sankey (A.S.) Latty, who was county auditor at the time. Latty later platted the town on his land.
Leslie’s Crossing – Founded by George Leslie II, the town later was called Briceton.
Link Post Office – Unknown. This crossroad community in Carryall Township may have gotten its name for a local family, or it may have been considered a “link” between Antwerp and Hicksville.
Llewellyn – (Also Lewellyn) Tom and Sam Llewellyn built on the north side of the Paulding-Van Wert County Line; the area on the south side of the road was Scott. Townspeople had to choose between the names of Scott and Llewellyn.
Logtown – Probably descriptive; a timber town in Benton Township.
Malottville – In 1872, Peter Lehman and Joseph Malott platted a village on the present site of Payne. The new town was called Malottville. In 1882, petitions to change the name from Malottville to Payne were filed in court.
Mandale – Named for Dale Mann. A plat for the town was filed in June 1889 by D. Mann and Alice Mann.
Marble – Unknown. Possibly a family name.
Marie DeLarme – One version says it was named in honor of a daughter of an early French boatman. However, another source indicates the name is a corruption of the phrase “marais de l’orme” meaning “elm swamp.”
Maumee – According to one writer, the French explorers meeting the Miami Indians understood from them the name of their tribe as Me-ah-me or Me-au-me, which they recorded in French as Miami. The rapid pronunciation of this three-syllable word, Miami, led the settlers here after the War of 1812 to pronounce it in two syllables as Maumee. The name also was sometimes written as Omi or Omee, which may have been short for the French “au Miami” and “aux Miamis,” meaning to or at the Miami or Miamis.
McDonald Pike – Another name for Road 107. A road often was named for the person who petitioned for it.
McGill – Named for John McGill, an organizer of Benton Township, described as “that old wolf hunter and veteran of the War of 1812.”
Melrose – Believed named after the Melrose Abbey in Scotland.
Molasses Gap – For a sorghum mill there, used to press juice for sorghum cane; the juice is boiled down to make molasses.
Morrison Post Office – Named for Chief Justice of the U.S. Morrison R. Waite. The site was also known as Holcombeville.
Murat – A canal town named for Joachin Murat, a French statesman and military leader.
Newberg – (Also Newburgh) Probably descriptive; literally, “new town.” Also see Royal Oak.
New Harrison – Probably named in connection with William Henry Harrison (see “Harrison”).
New Rochester – One source indicates the town was named by Johnny Appleseed, who traveled through Paulding County. Possibly for Rochester, N.Y. or East Rochester, Ohio. There were Rochesters in Noble, Stark and Lorain counties in Ohio, and a New Rochester in Wood County.
Nindeville – (Also Nineville) A settlement around the Ninde family’s mill, located in Harrison Township.
Oakwood – The town was originally called Wide-A-Wake, but later received the more prosaic name of Oakwood, largely because of the heavy stand of oak trees in the area, according one source. Another source suggests a ridge filled with white oaks was located there.
Ohio – From an Iroquois word meaning great river.
Oquanoxa’s Reserve – Named for a chief who resided in a village there with about 600 Indians of the Ottawa tribe until the reservation was sold and its inhabitants were forced to relocate to Kansas.
Paulding – For John Paulding, who along with David Williams and Isaac Van Wart captured Revolutionary War spy Major Andre, who was working with Benedict Arnold.
Payne – Probably for Henry G. Payne, a U.S. Senator from Ohio and lawyer with financial interests in the railroads. A post office called Payne was established there in 1858. The suggestion has been made that the post office was named Payne by a grateful community for Senator Payne’s efforts on its behalf with the Post Office Department. Other speculation is that it was named for a general in the army or for an early postmaster. The railroad station and later the town adopted the name of the post office. The community changed its name from Malottville to Payne in 1882.
Plumb’s Crossroads – For Caleb Plumb, who established the crossroads settlement and built a store.
Point Pleasant/Pleasant Grove – A post office settlement established on the Paulding and Van Wert Pike; probably descriptive.
Reid – (Also Reids) Named for Capt. Robert M. Reid, who was largely instrumental in securing the establishment of a post office for this canal town.
Renollet – For the Renollet family, who had large holdings at the site on the Wabash Railroad.
Roselms – (Also Roselm) From the family name “Rose” and the elm trees in the vicinity.
Royal Oak – A man named Darling opened a small grocery in the front room of his cabin at the site. Darling fashioned a sign from a store packing box and wrote on it with charcoal the words “Royal Oak Grocery.” He then nailed this sign to a stately old white oak tree. It was from this grocery and sign that Newberg got its other name, Royal Oak. Also see Newberg.
Scott – For John Scott, who platted the village in 1882. Also see Llewellyn.
Section 8/Section Eight – A timber town established in Section 8 of Paulding Township in the 1890s.
Six Mile Creek – So called because it empties into the Auglaize River six miles above its mouth.
Smiley – For J.E. Smiley, the postmaster who ran a general store and operated a mill and a shingle and a basket bottom factory.
Sophia – Unknown. A post office town in Blue Creek Township from July 1893-April 1895.
Spencer – Unknown. This canal town was located in Washington Township. Possibly a family name. One source mentions that “the ‘state boat’ best remembered by the older citizens of Washington Township was under the command of Capt. Spencer.”
St. Andrews – Laid out by two men of Scottish descent and named for the patron saint of Scotland.
Sunnyside – Probably descriptive.
Tate’s Landing – For Irish canal contractor Lyle (or Lyal) Tate, who purchased land there on the Wabash & Erie Canal.
Timberville – Combination of “timber” – a local product or resource – and “ville” meaning town. It was located at Lock 31 on the Miami & Erie Canal and was also known as Hipp’s Lock.
Tipton – Unknown. There also are Tiptons located in Indiana and Iowa and England.
Toronto – Unknown. Possibly for Toronto, Canada or Toronto in Jefferson County, Ohio.
Washington – (Township) Probably for George Washington. Washington is America’s most common place name.
Wayne Trace – Named in connection with General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, hero of the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Wayne’s army traveled through Paulding County along the Auglaize River, Flat Rock Creek and Maumee River. There’s a road named Wayne Trace in Fort Wayne, and reportedly U.S. 127, which runs in front of the Wayne Trace High School, was once known as Wayne Highway.
Wildcat Creek – Probably descriptive. A pioneer reminiscence noted that in the area in 1857, wildcats, bear, wolves, deer and panthers were numerous.
Worstville – For John Worst, who owned a sawmill in this railroad town in the late 1800s.
Wrexham – From Wrexham Lewis, who platted a town and called his Wrexham. Alexander Sankey Latty platted another portion of the town and called his Latty. The town was later incorporated as Latty.
Next time: The county seats.
More information on the bicentennial can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PauldingCounty200.
