A brief note of explanation on the title of this blog. The name Sylacauga, virtually unpronounceable to anyone not from here, derives from a Native American word belonging to the language of the Creek Nation, who, along with Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw natives, inhabited and flourished in Alabama prior to the infamous Trail of Tears. Playing off the perceived difficulty of the name, a promotional slogan was developed for the city: "Sylacauga--What a Name! What a Town!"
(Regarding the origin of the town name, there is some debate. Local legend tells that the name translates literally into "Buzzard's Roost", but the only evidence I have found for this, after considerable research, is unreliable. To my knowledge there are no original source documents verifying this piece of local lore. A more likely origin is, and I'm paraphrasing the exact spelling, the word "Chalaka-gee", which, as I understand, translates to "the village of the Chalaka tribe". The Ch- was pronounced similarly to the English dipthong "sh", leading to a phonetic pronunciation of shall-ah'-kah-guh (or gee). At one point in the town's history, the spelling was Syllacauga, but the second "l" was later dropped.)
Sylacauga Municipal Complex
No comments:
Post a Comment