Have you ever thought about where your town got its name from? Why is it called Haverhill, Bridgewater, Plymouth, or Concord? If you are looking for a fun activity to connect to your town’s history, do some research to look back to see where your town's name comes from.
It is clear that often a town’s name is based on geography and ecological characteristics. For example, if a town often floods, or is nearby a coast, it may have a particular name that has to do with water. An interesting example of a town’s name representing a geographic place is a town in Spain. Originally, the town’s name was “Arroyo Harinoso” or Floury Brook. Then it changed to “Arroyo del Pino” or Pine Brook. The last name change was to “Laguna de la Higueruela” or Stinking Clover Lagoon. You might be asking yourself, ”Why did the town switch its name three times?” This is because the landscape of the town changed due to flooding and climate changes. The area experienced so much precipitation, the town changed from being named after a brook to a lagoon! This is a big change. 
Geographically, a brook is a small stream, like the picture above. A swamp is a low-lying place where water collects. A picture of a swamp is provided to the left.
It is also interesting to look at a the town EarthView is from, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. You might think Bridgewater is named because it has a lot of bridges and water however, Bridgewater, is named after Bridgwater, England. EarthView co-coordinator Dr. Hayes-Bohanan and his wife Pam, a librarian, have taken a very strong interest in the name, visiting as many Bridgewaters as they can. You can check out their project here: http://bridgewatersproject.blogspot.com/
After reading about this town in Spain and Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's search into different Bridgewaters, I was interested in looking into my hometown, Weymouth, Massachusetts. I learned that Weymouth, MA is named after a coastal town in England. Weymouth, England gets its name from being situated on the river Wey. This makes sense because a mouth of a river is the part where the river opens into another body of water like an ocean. So, if you put Wey + mouth together you get Weymouth.
The two Weymouth’s have a similar population of almost 60,000 people. Weymouth, England is located in the southern part of England. Similarly, Weymouth, Massachusetts is located in the southern part of the state. However, the two places have differences, such as their climates. For example, Weymouth, England has milder and rainier summers. Whereas, Weymouth, Massachusetts has hotter summers and snowier winters.
Another fun thing to do is look at pictures from the town your New England town is named after. I actually had a friend travel to Weymouth, England last Summer. He took these pictures for me. See if you can find any similarities and differences in the way your town looks compared to the “old" town. The picture to the left is a gift from Weymouth in New England to Weymouth in old England. 
The picture to the left which says, “Welcome to Weymouth” is coincidentally in maroon and gold mosaic tiles. These are the school colors of the high school in Weymouth, Massachusetts.
The final photo to the right is from the Weymouth, England’s coastline. It is interesting to see how the coastline is more rocky whereas beaches in Weymouth, Massachusetts are sandy and rocky.
Have fun looking back into your town's history to see where it got its namesake from.
Some questions to look into are:
Where is the original town’s name from?
What is the weather like there?
Why does it have the name it has?
Are there any famous people from there?
How many people live there?
How far away is it?
What does it look like there? (use Google Maps to do this or Google Images)
Resources to get started on your town name quest:
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cisctlist/ctlistalph.htm
Resources to get started on your town name quest:
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cisctlist/ctlistalph.htm
References:
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