Gnaw Bone, Indiana

Gnaw Bone is an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Brown County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.[3] Gnaw Bone is situated on State Highway 46, between Nashville and Columbus. The small community contains three flea markets.[4]

Gnaw Bone, Indiana
Unincorporated community
Brown County's location in Indiana
Brown County's location in Indiana
Gnaw Bone is located in Brown County, Indiana
Gnaw Bone
Gnaw Bone
Location in Brown County
Coordinates: 39°11′27″N 86°11′28″W
CountryUnited States
StateIndiana
CountyBrown
TownshipWashington
Elevation
[1]
643 ft (196 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • Totalc. 200[2]
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes
47448
Area code(s)812 & 930
GNIS feature ID452046

Origin of name

The origin of the name Gnaw Bone is obscure. One theory is that the town's name derives from that of the original French settlement in the area, Narbonne, named in turn for the southern French city of that name. To the ears of English settlers at the time, "Narbonne" sounded like and came to be known as "Gnaw Bone."[5][6][7]

The name was in common use as early as 1879, as shown by newspaper articles in the Columbus (Indiana) Republic and the Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer, as well as numerous other newspapers articles up to the current year.[8]

Gnaw Bone has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[9]

References
  1. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  2. Huppke, Rex W. (February 13, 2000). "Chew on This There's a Town Called Gnaw Bone". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  3. "Gnaw Bone, Indiana". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  4. "Brown County has Fleas". Our Brown County. August 2006. Archived from the original on August 16, 2006. Retrieved August 28, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. Ashley, Leonard. 1995. "Folk Etymology in the Place Names of the United States." In Eichler, Ernst et al. (eds.) Namenforschung: ein internationales Handbuch zur Onomastik (pp. 471–475). Berlin: de Gruyter, p. 472.
  6. Rubino, Carl A. Rubino, & Cynthia W. Shelmerdine. 1983. Approaches to Homer. Austin: University of Texas Press, p. 76.
  7. Huppke, Rex W. (February 13, 2000). "Chew on This There's a Town Called Gnaw Bone". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  8. "Search".
  9. Parker, Quentin (2010). Welcome to Horneytown, North Carolina, Population: 15: An insider's guide to 201 of the world's weirdest and wildest places. Adams Media. pp. x. ISBN 9781440507397.
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