This is a story about how a city got its curious name and what it means to be a namesake.

The story begins in the late 1890s and takes place in rural Minnesota.

James Hare had become the new postmaster of Burns Township, but he had a problem.

He wanted to reactivate the Burns Post Office, but was told by the United States Post Office

Department that he had to come up with a new name for it.

Sometime during the three years the Post Office had been deactivated, another one had opened

up elsewhere in the state using the name Burns.

In order to ensure the proper delivery of mail, the Postal Department stipulated that

post offices in the same state couldn't use the same name.

Although it was also required that the Post Office names match the name of the city town

or village where it was located, exceptions were made, and this was one of those cases.

Instead of submitting just one suggestion, James Hare sent a list of possible names for

the Postal Department to choose from.

Two of the names on the list were Hare'sville and Hare's Corners, even though making

a post office the namesake of its postmaster was a discouraged practice in being phased

out by the Postal Department.

So it should come as no surprise that the Postal Department did not choose either of

Hare's suggested eponymous names.

Grammar Girl here.

I'm a Neon Fogerty.

You're friendly guide to the English language.

Stick around because after we talk about a charming town and how it got its name, we're

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