Published in two parts: Part 1: Flagpole, August 30, 2000, pp. 10-12; Part 2: Flagpole, September 6, 2000, pp. 10-11

Abstract

An eponym, the dictionary tells us, is a name formed from the name of a person to designate a place, and an eponymous person is someone for whom a place has been named. Prince Avenue, the wide Athens street which stretches west almost exactly two miles from Pulaski Street to the Jefferson Road, is an eponym. Described as “once one of the nation’s finest boulevards” by Frances Taliaferro Thomas in her excellent book A Portrait of Historic Athens and Clarke County (1992), but now dotted with professional buildings, fast food businesses, and parking lots, Prince Avenue was named after a renowned Georgian, now nearly forgotten, who lived in Athens for less than two years. This man, Oliver Hillhouse Prince, may, therefore, appropriately be called the eponymous Mr. Prince.

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