Name of tiny rural township

[gs_silva]

I'm thinking of renaming the little township that two of my characters are from. It's generally in the Midwest, although the state could be anything from New York to Indiana, probably not any further west than that. I'd originally had it set in upstate NY, but then ended up modeling the college town somewhat after Columbus, OH.

The tiny township was Munro, originally, but Monroe is a common town name in many US states, so whichever state you think Alien Romance takes place in, will likely already have a place named Monroe or Munro.

Some of my contenders:

Malby, named after Malby, Sweden.
Maybe something about Burke, one of the established families there. Burke Path, Burke Bend, Burke Mill, Burkeville, just Burke
Lambert is another one. Lambert Mill?
Luddy, named after, I don't know, sounds cute and awkward and maybe a surname of a founding family. Then I can name some characters Luddy!

Opinions welcome! Additional suggestions also welcome.

Comments

[wantedonvoyage]

I like Burke Mill. You can invent some backstory about a former factory town when it lends itself to the story.

Very close to me there were two factories during the industrial revolution, both of which took advantage of the Morris Canal which ran through our area. I found this out because our closest cell tower is named DAVEY and I had to know why. Turns out the surrounding area was Davey's Woods 100 years ago and the home of the Davey Paper Mill.

[gs_silva]

I like Mill as a suffix better than the usual Springs or -field or -ville that most fictional towns use. And there are already some characters named Burke! They don't appear in the novel, but I went wild with backstory so maybe they'll appear in the daily comic.

Oh! Ren's mother's maiden name is Burke.

I have a friend whose surname is White, whose family owns property in White's Path - not a town, just a quiet little corner in a rural area. But I like the idea that a family has been there that long.

[wantedonvoyage]

We have a Whitesville in New Jersey, which is--ironically--inhabited mostly by African-Americans. I'm guessing... hoping... that it was also a family name and not an artifact of the area's segregated past.

[gs_silva]

I'm sure the residents make jokes about it either way. But yeah, it would be reassuring to know that it's the former.