I, admittedly, have a mental quirk; I am an inveterate searcher for answers that solve the questions posed by etymologically-confounding words. For example, having retired to Roanoke, Virginia, I became enamored of the place-name of Roanoke, its origin(s), etc. I already knew that Roanoke, Virginia got the name of Roanoke because that was the Indian's name for a type of shell found in the local river that stretched down into Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. The Indian used this shell as money. I searched the academic sources of this word and found it had no other history. The word existed only in the American language and bears no earmarks of any other origin.

I consulted the U. S. Postal Service's Directory of Post Offices and found that the name of Roanoke is assigned to five offices in states other than Virginia: Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, and Texas. So, I wrote personal letters to the postmasters of those offices, asking the origin of their name of Roanoke. I received three replies. Still searching the two hold-out stories, I again sent inquiry letters (with, of course, self-addressed stamped envelopes for replies) to the mayors of those two towns or cities, state governors, historical societies, etc.

The postmaster of Roanoke, Illinois sent me a copy of a rather extensive history of that place, published by the municipality. It clearly states: "In 1847, settlers from Roanoke County Virginia sought virgin soil and picturesque home settings and found them in the heart of Woodford County, Illinois. They named their new home "ROANOKE" (capitalization copied).

The postmaster of Roanoke, Texas advised me that the office was established on December 10, 1870 as the "Elizabeth" post office. In 1881 the railroad came to that locale, about three miles away. The people, wanting to be close to the railroad, abandoned their homes in Elizabeth and moved close to the tracks. One of those railroad employees, wanting to honor his hometown of Roanoke, Virginia, had the place officially named Roanoke.

Probably most old-time Roanokers know this area was originally named Big Lick. But how many current citizens know the heritage bestowed upon them by the original settlers of this area? They were sturdy pioneers of the "Olde School," creating history their successors can be proud of. The Roanoke area, with its Crown-appointed town of Fincastle having the official Courthouse for recordation of claims and grants for all English-claimed properties westward, was a "staging area," a "jumping-off" place to settlements further away, even into what is now Indiana, bordering Canada, which was then claimed by France. But, no matter how far away the settlers passing through Virginia went, each would always proudly call themselves a Roanoker. Once being one, that they would always be.

From the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, I received an extensive letter which basically stated that Roanoke was so named upon behest of two brothers, G.W. and J.M. Booze, "in honor of their home in Virginia." Independent of that, my computer research revealed a Louisiana sponsored web site, dealing with churches of Louisiana, that stated: "Until about 1985, it [Roanoke, Louisiana] was known as Esterly, for pioneer storekeeper Adam Esterly. Southern Pacific also operated a railroad branch, called Evangeline Switch, from the main line to the Esterly store, which caused confusion about the name of the place. In the middle 1890s, J.M. Booze and W.T. Hutcheson, who bought the store from Esterly, petitioned the Southern Pacific and the government to have the name changed to Roanoke, honoring the Roanoke in Virginia that had been their home.

Regarding Roanoke, Alabama, I received an extensive brochure from the government of that municipality. It stated: "Once a part of the Creek Indian Territory, early pioneers settled the area and, on December 18, 1832, the Alabama General Assembly established our 371,849 acre county, naming it Randolph County after a popular U.S. Senator from Virginia, John Randolph. Further, the brochure stated: "Roanoke, the largest city in Randolph County, is in the southeastern corner of the county. Once known as High Pine, in the 1830s the name was changed to Roanoke in honor of John Randolph's Virginia plantation" near the city of Roanoke, Virginia."

The record of multiplying Roanokes from the original one here in Virginia was solidified when I received a nice letter from the postmaster of Roanoke, Indiana, apologizing for the delay in writing me. He had only recently taken on the duties of postmaster and inherited "other pressing priorities to attend to." He wrote that local legend says that one of the very first settlers in the mid-1800s, being originally from Roanoke, Virginia, suggested the town be named Roanoke. This was independently substantiated by the local author of a book on the history of Roanoke, Indiana.

Then came the hard part of my research. I found that there have been 14 discontinued post offices named Roanoke. (See the list at the end of this article.) Addressing those, I contacted relevant postal history societies, postal publications, local newspapers, etc. From the replies to these contacts, I have so far garnered proof that 6 of those 14 discontinued post offices also were names Roanoke by virtue of their connections to the original Roanoke in Virginia.

In summation, this article has delved into the discarded historic soil of one-and-a-half centuries ago to unearth corroborated facts that should cause Roanoke, Virginia to become known as the mother of many Roanokes. It needs to be said.

All of the above is fantastic, new information. It means that a new history book needs to be written. The author is busy doing just that. He is daily discovering new facts. For example, did you know that Sam Houston was born right here in Southwest Virginia, in Rockbridge County? George Washington Carver's birthplace is nearby. The list goes on. Mat's working title for his latest book is Roanoke River: The Mother of America.

[Any reader who may have additional info on historic Roanoke, Virginia and its impact upon later Roanoke settlements, please contact Mat in this regard.]

Here is the list of 14 Roanoke D.P.O.s and the counties they are in, excluding Roanokes in Virginia and North Carolina obviously named for the Roanoke River's twists and turns.
Georgia (Stewart County), 1831-1837
Kansas (Stanton County), 1886-1913
Kentucky (Larue County), 1888-1917
Missouri (Howard County), 1871-1955
Missouri (Randolph), 1838-1871
New Mexico (Chaves), 1908-1911
New York (??), 1847-1859
New York (??), 1887-1888
New York (Genesee), 1835-1839
New York (Suffolk), 1870-1872
Ohio (Putnam), 1866-1872
South Carolina (Pickens), 1887-1903
South Dakota (Faulk), 1883-1907
West Virginia (Lewis), 1874-1980
There may be other such post offices. The Post Office Department / U.S. Postal Service records are incomplete.

There is a great town named Vinton, of about 5,000 people, adjoining the city of Roanoke. I found that Vinton got its name by joining together parts of the surnames of two settler families of the area, namely Vinyard and Preston. Then came the thought of the early Vintonites, being like the Roanokers, and forging forward into the new nation and settling in far off places. Sure enough, I discovered that there have been 16 Vinton post offices, with four of them still in existence. The list follows, with counties shown in parentheses. Anyone having information about the history of these place names is invited to please add their information to this recordation of our heritage.
California (Plumas), 1897-date
Vinton Mills, Connecticut (Hartford), 1891-1905
Iowa (Benton), 1846-date
Kansas (Cowley), 1888-1926
Kansas (Riley), 1870-1888
Kentucky (Powell), 1892-1912
Louisiana (Calcasieu), 1888-date
Missouri (Bates), 1871-1904
Mississippi (Clay), 1877-1904
Nebraska (Valley), 1875-1888
Ohio (Gallia), 1834-date
Vinton Furnace, Ohio (Vinton), 1854-1857
Vinton Station, Ohio (Vinton), 1857-1901
Oregon (Gilliam), 1888-1889
South Dakota (Stanley), 1908-1919
Texas (El Paso), 1892-1940
Virginia (Roanoke), 1885-date
West Virginia (Nicholas), 1877-1940

Copyright, Mathew J. Bowyer, 2006, 2007.