Customer Reviews

From Red Hot to Monkey's Eyebrow: Unusual Kentucky Place Names

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This short book is a series of stories that explain the origin of some of the more unusual place names in Kentucky. Rennick has spent a lifetime researching place names in his home state and, though the stories might seem tall tales, it is hard to doubt the veracity of the author. Not as scholarly and comprehensive as his book Kentucky Place Names, which is probably one of the best state place names book ever written, this work tackles the oddball names and is amusing and entertaining.

As a denizen of Flat Mary Road in Eastern Kentucky (just up from Vortex, Sister City to Drain, Oregon), I had a ball with this book. The fact is, there isn't room to list all the great place names in this wonderful and eccentric state, but the author hits the high points.

Robert Rennick is the dean of Kentucky place names, and this short (< 75p) has vignettes of the history and naming of the more interesting place names In case you are interested in the title, Monkey's Eyebrow is a small city in Ballard County perhaps named sometime before 1900, for, what else, Monkey's Eyebrows. Some of my favorite pieces include nearby Elkhorn Creek, Mousie (named for a daughter of a large landowner, whose other daughter is named Kitty) and Nobob and Nolynn. The source of the names is varied, but I like Peewee Valley, being named for a singing bird, when the city officials couldn't decide on a name. Readers of this, as well as genealogists, and postmark collectors should find Rennicks "Kentucky Place Names" a useful reference. Readers may also want to query the online "Geographic Names Information System" for such interesting names as Big Bone Lick .. or ....