Polk Name Is Venerable


I have lived here approximately six years, and never have encountered anyone who had a problem pronouncing Polk nor had a lack of understanding about the county named for President James Knox Polk ["Change County Name," letter, May 9].

His name should give one a hint, that this is a venerable Scots- American name, and there is nothing "foreign" about it.

There are hordes of Scots- Americans in Polk County, and I am one of them.

The suggested substitution is not worthy of mention, but it is silly.

If one wanted a Floridian name, how about Withlacoochee? If an American name is needed, we have a wealth of names — Skaneateles, Olentangy or Monongahela.

None of these is easier to pronounce, but they would be well- remembered, and they would be venerated by Native Americans.

At best, the letter writer's rationale is weak. We already have a name for the Tampa-to-Orlando area, it's called the I-4 corridor.

Don't you think that Orange is a strange name for a county? I mean there are no Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo or Violet counties.

The biggest hill in Hillsborough County is 160 feet above sea level — what is that, a pimple?

Park County does not pack any upscale image. It brings visions of winos, drug dealers, vagrants and other ne'er-do-wells, and would have absolutely no historical point of pride.

Don't make me form a political action committee.




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