Very interesting! Thanks Dennis. Tom Dennis Benarz wrote: > Hi John > > "Wolki" were neither villages nor hamlets in any legal sense. They were > considered to be a legitimate part of the larger political entity - the > village - although they were usually geographically unattached to it. I > have never found a dictionary with a suitable definition, but perhaps that's > because "wolki" is a rather specialized and/or archaic legal or real estate > term in Polish. In today's world, "wolki" would probably be akin to a > subdivision or perhaps a neighborhood in North America.. "Wolki" were not > settlements that just happened to come into being haphazardly because folks > simply decided to settle there. They were planned and sanctioned and someone > had some sort of rights to them, at least for a time. > > I live in the village of Niles IL and you'll find areas of it referred to as > Grennan Heights, Oakton Manor, Jonquil Terrace, Chesterfield Commons, etc. > These names do not appear on any maps (not lately) and are now meaningless > to the country and state governmental agencies. Even official publications > of the village seldom contain these place names any more. At one time, > these areas were planned and built by developers and at that time the names > might have had some legal ramifications as homes were built, but today they > only provide a bit of descriptive assistance to the local folks here, "Hey, > there was a serious traffic accident today in Grennan Heights right across > from the park." Locals would know exactly where that is. > > It is precisely that "descriptive assistance" that might come in handy > during a trip to an ancestral Polish village. Plus, some list members might > benefit from this discussion because they will finally be able to make sense > of an old family tale that mentions the name of a "wolka" instead of the > proper name of a village. They'll discover that the "wolka" place name was > mentioned only to provide a more precise location. > > The overwhelming majority of villages in SE Poland did not have "wolki", but > some did. > > Cheers! > > Dennis > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "John T Mielnik" <jtmielnik@hotmail.com> > To: <galicia@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 7:29 AM > Subject: Re: [GALICIA] (no subject) > > >