A few months ago, this column looked at the origin of some local place names. Due to unprecedented popular demand (at least three non family members said they liked it), this is the sequel.

Place names often reflect the people who settled in an area, their history, religion, culture, or in remembrance of prominent forebears. Sometimes it's simply whimsy or wishful thinking.

Nearly all the early European settlers in this region were Irish protestants and the church was an important part of life, not just as a place of worship, but also as a hub of social life for these often isolated farmers and their families. The Zion (4th) Line of Cavan is named after the Zion Church, a now closed Methodist church a couple of kilometres west of the 4th Line Theatre. The word Zion refers to the hill upon which Jerusalem was built or more generally to "holy place" and was a relatively common name for a church. The Carmel (2nd) Line also has a religious connotation. Carmel is the name of an ancient Israelite hilltop town in Judea and the word is derived from the Hebrew term for "vineyard of God". The village of Bethany in nearby Manvers township is named after the town near Jerusalem where Jesus is said to have raised Lazarus from the dead.

Place names can change over time. The hamlet of Ida on County road 10 sits at the top  of a long hill which heads into the hamlet of Cavan (formerly Cavanville). An inn was built there in 1831 by James Wilson (of Wilson or 13th Line) to accommodate travellers and their horses weary from the long uphill trudge. For a while it was known as Sharpe's Corners  as the Sharpe family (of Sharpe or 11th Line) owned a general store at the crossroads. How the name Ida came about is unclear to me. It could be named after the Barony of Ida in Ireland's Kilkenney county or it may have taken its name from an old Germanic /Norse word meaning industrious or prosperous. Or maybe it refers to Mount Ida on the Mediterranean island of Crete, said to be the birthplace of the ancient Greek god Zeus.

Bailieboro was originally named Graham's,  the community developing here after Joseph Graham built an inn at the junction of the East boundary road (County road 28) and the 2nd (Carmel) Line. By 1850 it had been renamed Bloomfield. In 1861, the name changed again to Bailieboro (after a town in Cavan county, Ireland), perhaps to avoid confusion with the town of Bloomfield in Prince Edward County.

Main Street usually refers to the central and most important roadway in a community. However, in Millbrook today it's a side street at the western edge of the village. This is due to the influence of "Squire" William Henry Sowden. He was a real mover and shaker, active in local politics and owning large parcels of land in the village, including at the western end.

In Millbrook's early days, Tupper Street was the commercial centre. The Millbrook station of the railway  under construction from Port Hope to Lindsay was to be on Tupper Street, but somehow Squire Sowden convinced the railway owners to put the station conveniently on his land, off the new Main Street (I guess developers/politicians influencing major transportation issues is not a new thing). The Squire built an impressive three story brick commercial building on his land at the corner of King and Main Street to accommodate the anticipated businesses moving in. Unfortunately (suspiciously?) this building was destroyed by fire before tenants could move in. Over time, the commercial district moved to King Street but never as far as Main Street.  Nowadays, aside from the Millbrook Christian assembly at the corner of King and Main Streets and the fairgrounds at the south end, Main Street is a quiet residential road.

*Or, the sequel, or part two, or whatever you as editor/publisher would like to call it