A road by any other name ... I was raised near what I consider to be a minor historical oddity and after a bit of recent research have come up with a theory as to its origins. There seem to be quite a few amateur historians in this group so I thought I’d post my guesswork to see if the general consensus is that it’s nonsense or possibly valid. My family home is located in the neighborhood behind the Mary C. House elementary school on Boot Road. Travelling west on Boot road you take a right on Burgoyne road and then another right on Overlook drive and you’re in what used to unofficially be called Bradford Hills. It’s the first right off Boot that strikes me as strange, Burgoyne road. As a result of West Chester and its surrounding areas roll in the Revolutionary War many streets, roads and alleyways are named for Revolutionary War heroes. But Burgoyne was a British General. Why then was this road named after a man whose army ended the lives of hundreds if not thousands of Continental soldiers? Here’s my theory. History seems to remember Burgoyne most notably for his inept handling of troops at Saratoga which lead to his losing the battle. The impressive American victory at Saratoga is generally credited with inducing the French to finally agree to aid the American revolutionaries, aid without which the Colonies may well have lost the war. You may be thinking, if the road was named to honor the victory at Saratoga why not name it after the Colonial commander? Because the general who successfully opposed Burgoyne was none other than Benedict Arnold so I doubt that much serious consideration was given to naming it after him. So what do you think? Was it named Burgoyne as a back handed insult to an opposing commander whose ineptitude helped us win the war? Or was the name approved by a local council the head of which was approached by a resident after the vote who whispered furtively in his ear, the council head then calling out, “What?! He was British?!!”
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 04:29:18 +0000
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