In 1890 the Post Office Department considered opening a Post Office in Benton County AR. Residents proposed the name "Switch." Probably, the general nature of the name caused the department to name the office "Herd." Likely, "Herd" was as strange sounding to the natives as "Switch" was to the government. The office was opened as "Herd" and was operated until 1910 under that name. The natives seem to have preferred the full name, "Herd's Switch," or "Herdswitch." So long as the dispatches and reports reaching Washington gave the name as "Switch," nobody seems to have cared. The office was located in Benton County AR, in Section 22, Township 21N, Range 28 West. Mail was sent to Garfield after the Herd's Switch office closed. -Russell Pierce Baker, _From Memdag to Norsk: A Historical Directory of Arkansas Post Offices 1832-1971_, page 104. Best wishes, Ed [email protected] wrote: > > Here's another message also recently received. > > If any of you know the answer, again, please send it to the list and I'll > forward on to my correspondent. > > Thanks, > > Is there any information on a town named Herdswitch, Arkansas that is/was > located in Benton County (far northwest corner of the state)? Perhaps it is > now called by another name. > > My dentist's grandmother, Mamie Leona (Baldwin) McClain was born in > Herdswitch on June 24, 1901. She was the daughter of Philip Alfred Baldwin > and Mary Elizabeth Gann Baldwin. > Mamie McClain recently passed away in Boise, Idaho at the age of 101. > > Sincerely, > > Sam (in AZ) > > Gary Speck ([email protected]) > > "Experience a past life -- visit a ghost town!" > > Author of the book: "Dust in the Wind -- A Guide to American Ghost Towns" > > http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~gtusa/ > http://hometown.aol.com/gtusa/index.html > > ==== AR-GHOSTTOWNS Mailing List ==== > If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Arkansas Ghost Towns list, use > [email protected] or [email protected] if > you are on the Digest list. > p