California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names, Fourth edition

By Erwin G. Gudde

Book Overview

Absco, a Southern Pacific station, was coined in the 1920s from the name of the American Beet Sugar Company, which had a factory in Oxnard.

Pochea is an Indian village site in Riverside County, said to mean "where the rabbit went in."

Siskiyou was the Chinook word for 'bobtailed horse, ' originally taken over from the Cree language. From Abadi Creek to Zzyzyx Spring, thousands of discoveries await the reader of California Place Names. This is the fourth edition, extensively revised and expanded, of a classic work of Californiana. The curious traveler or resident, as well as the serious student, will find a wealth of description and history in these names, as rich and various as the California landscape itself.

Like its predecessors, this edition concentrates on the origins of the names currently used for the cities, towns, settlements, mountains, and streams of California, with engrossing accounts of the history of their usage. It has been updated to incorporate the latest research on California place names published by regional historians and to include new names that have been added to the California map since 1969. Readers will appreciate the local pronunciation of place names with unusual spellings; anyone curious about how to say La Jolla or Weitchpec can find the information here, in phonetic transcriptions. Finally, the many California place names of American Indian origin--such as Yreka, Shasta, Napa, Sonoma, Tamalpais, Yosemite, Lompoc, Mugu, Coachella, or Poway--receive particular attention from editor William Bright. The dictionary includes a Glossary and a Bibliography.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520213165
• ISBN13: 9780520213166
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 460 Pages
• Weight: 2.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.5" x 1.5" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Useful

This is a very handy reference book. I use it far more often than I thought I would.

California Place Names

This book is an excellent resource for people who are researching for a book/article about California or just curious why places were named as they were.

Family Heirloom...

Erwin Gudde is actually a direct ancestor of mine, so I accquired this book so that my son may pass it on through the ages as a claim to fame if you will. The book was nicely done, and very informative.

Fun Traveling Book

Great book to keep in your car or backpack. Fun to read while on trips. Answers many WHY questions on the road. Good times!