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From the Spectator, January 5, 1986.
Transcribed by Crist Middaugh.


 

What’s in a name, anyway

By Kathryn Ross

Wellsville - After writing last week about the suggested origins of some of the more interesting names of roads and villages throughout Allegany County, the Daily Reporter became the subject of an onslaught of information about names that weren’t verifiable.

The first bit of information concerned the origin of the name of Tatack Road in West Almond township.

Craig Braack, Allegany County Historian and native of Almond, was understandably interested in the origin of that particular road when, upon inquiry, he had no idea of where if case from. Curiosity getting the best of him, Braack took time out from his busy schedule and verified that in the mid-40s a Czechoslovakian family by that name of Takach moved onto that road. The road then became known as the Takach Road.

According to the map that is issued by the county, the name of the road is spelled Tatack. The map issued by the county but was originally drawn from an inventory taken by the New York State Department of Transportation. According to the county public works department it would take notification from the superintendent of the town to correct the misspelling.

The next topic of interest concerned the origin of the name of Kossuth, a small hamlet near Bolivar. The county historian thought the name was of Indian extraction, but the name, according to area historians, dates back to the late 1840s when the Hungarian revolutionary war hero Louis Kassuth visited President Millard Fillmore in the White House. Kossuth was a hero who became president of the Hungarian government until Russian troops ousted him. Afterwards he became an exile.

Salt Rising Road caused quite a stir. According to World War I veteran Harold Benson, a resident of Bolivar, the name of Salt Rising Road was derived form a boarding house that was situated there.