What makes Nameless, Tennessee, a unique place is the way it got its name and, for sure, its unusual name itself.
This small town went for years without a name, until the Post Office Department told the people that the place needed one in order to receive mails. The community rallied and started to debate, it seemed that they couldn't decide what name give to the town: Some suggested names from nature, others wanted patriotic names, and even one man suggested his own name. In the end, a man tired of all the arguing and the talk said that he didn't like the mail he received anyway so just let the town be "Nameless".
In the chapter "Nameless, Tennessee" included in the book "Blue Highways
", written by William Least Heat-Moon, the author describes his experience in the town and what Miss Ginny and Mr. Thurmond answered when he asked how the town got its name, this is what the speaker tells:
"I stepped in and they both began telling the story, adding a detail here, the other correcting a fact there, both smiling at the foolishness of it all. It seems the hilltop settlement went for years without a name. Then one day the Post Office Department told the people if they wanted mail up on the mountain they would have to give the place a name you could properly address a letter to. The community met; there were only a handful, but they commenced debating. Some wanted patriotic names, some names from nature, one man recommended in all seriousness his own name. They couldn’t agree, and they ran out of names to argue about. Finally, a fellow tired of the talk; he didn’t like the mail he received anyway. -Forget the durn Post Office-he said. -This here’s a nameless place if I ever seen one, so leave it be.- And that’s just what they did."
The storytelling of the author, his curiosity and how he mentions that Miss Ginny and Mr. Thurmond told the story ("...adding a detail here, the other correcting a fact there, both smiling at the foolishness of it all."), shows how the community's unusual name has attracted attention from people, the particular playful tone the people use to explain its origin and how there is no just "one truth" about it.
