NAME THAT ROAD By Bernie Goode
About 20 years ago, I was walking along that mile-long road on the north end of Tybee that begins at the entrance to Fort Screven (where 2nd Ave. ends) and
runs to its dead end at Captain’s View. I noted, with amazement, many variations of the name of said road on the street posts. I later came back to photograph
each variation, and then wrote an article for the Tybee magazine of that time, name of which I don’t remember, but do remember the Editor was J.R. Roseberry.
I assumed that the City would jump all over correcting the name of this multi-named road once the name problem had gone public. Years later, with no name
corrections made, I wrote another article for the Tybee Breeze magazine. More years went by with no improvement that I could see; so I wrote a third article
for the Tybee Historical Society’s Newsletter. Soon thereafter, I noticed that someone (probably a city employee), had white-painted over the letter “E” on all
the street signs having the word “HORNE.” But to this day, the problem of too many different names for the same road remains intact.
So, what is the problem? The few residents living on this road that I have talked to over the years don’t seem to be having any problems. In fact, I got the
feeling they were thinking that I should leave well enough alone and, better yet, that I should go back from whence I came (Savannah, 1936)! It sure seems to
me that mapmakers, GPS developers, Post Office employees, delivery people, first responders, tax collectors, census takers, etc., would be confused at best
and angry at worst. For reasons you will soon understand, I will refer to said road in this article as ‘The Road.’
With the help of some history buffs at the Tybee Island Historical Society, I learned that the name shown on maps in their files and at the Museum clearly
show that the original name for ‘The Road’ began as “Van Horn Street.” This name was to honor General Van Horn Moseley, a prominent officer at Fort Screven.
In 1935, General Moseley helped a troop of Girl Scouts that were in need of a place to meet, by erecting a beautiful rustic hut on Fort Screven.
Come now with me for an exciting ride down ‘The Road’ so that you may understand the problem. We will start at the south end where Fort Screven begins,
and proceed to the far end at Captain’s View. The first road sign at the beginning reads “VAN HORN.” Wrong - needs an “ST.” at the end. Just before reaching
the Post Theater, we pass an apartment complex on the left with raised blue letters on the side displaying its address as “6 VAN HORNE.” Wrong – needs to
drop the E and add ST. or STREET.
The announcements in the marquee in front of the Post Theater all give the address of the theater as “10 Van Horne Ave.” Wrong – the E needs to go and
AVE. needs to be changed to ST.
The first side road coming into ‘The Road’ is Ocean View Court on the right which, as the road name post indicates, connects with “VAN HORN AVE.” Wrong
– AVE. should be ST.
Next, Rosewood Ave. connects from the left with “VANHORNE AVE.” Wrong – no E, needs space after VAN and AVE. needs to be changed to ST. Rosewood
Ave. then jogs left for a couple of hundred feet on ‘The Road’ and then turns right, where a street post labels ‘The Road’ as “VAN HORN ST.” Wow, the first time
the correct name is used for ‘The Road.’ But how strange it is that that Rosewood Ave. on the left reaches ‘The Road’ where the name is posted as “VANHORNE
AVE.,” jogs to the left on ‘The Road’ and then turns right off ‘The Road’ which has now changed its name to “VAN HORN ST.” Pity Siri’s job of guiding a visitor
or FedEx deliverer around in this area! To further complicate things, the Rosewood Ave. to the left of ‘The Road’ goes behind the nursing home and reconnects
with ‘The Road’ which is now labeled on the post as “VAN HORN.” Wrong – needs an “ST.” Note that all three times Rosewood Ave. connects to ‘The Road,’ it
is with a different name as labeled on the street name posts.
As we approach the Guard House on the right, N. Campbell Ave. connects to ‘The Road’ from the left. The street post here reveals that the name is now
“VANHORN DR.” Wrong – a space is needed between VAN and HORN and DR. needs to be ST. A block down from the Guard House, Meddin St. joins ‘The Road’
from the right, which is labeled on the street post as “VANHORN ST.,” which is almost right but needs a space between VAN and HORN, i.e. – is Wrong. Shortly
down ‘The Road,’ Veterans Dr. enters ‘The Road’ which in now labeled as “VAN HORN AVE.,” which is almost correct but the AVE. needs to be changed to ST.,
i.e., is Wrong.
A short distance down from Veterans Dr., Alger Ave. connects to “VAN HORN” on the left. That was an easy way for the poor, frustrated street name-marker to
decide whether to paint ST., AVE., or DR. on the post, i.e. just use none of the above. Directly across ‘The Road’ from the Alger connection, we see Thrushwood
Ave. joining the melee from the right side. On its post we read “VAN HORN AVE.” So, for this side of ‘The Road,’ the street-marker apparently bit the bullet or
flipped a coin and added “AVE.” - which is Wrong - should be “ST.” After this confusing cross-road mess, we find Pulaski St. joining “VAN HORN ST.” twice
from the right due to its loop. Wow, the correct name is used twice!
As we approach the Police Station, Fort St. comes into ‘The Road’ from the left and Taylor St. comes in from the right; both connect to “VANHORN ST.” –
Wrong - a space is needed between VAN and HORN.
After ‘The Road’ passes the Police station and enters Captain’s View, it is prominently marked at the connection of three roads on the left with attractive
signs saying “VAN HORN ST.” All three are spot on! Praise God.
In total, 6 street posts are correctly labeled and 11 are wrong. There are 6 variations of the posted name of ‘The Road’ with the only correct name being
Van Horn St. I don’t know about you, but I find this to be extremely unique – 6 different names for one continuous, one mile long road in a small town. I am
comfortable in saying that this occurs nowhere else on Planet Earth.
When I’m gone, I want to be remembered as “that idiot from Savannah, with too much time on his hands, who straightened out the name of Van Horn Street
on Tybee Island.” However, if no fix is made by the City, simply change the above to … “who tried to straighten out the name.”
10 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | NOV 2019