China bust
I must confess that I initially found this article rather confusing.
The headline: “Maine authorities bust illegal marijuana operation in China.” Intriguing, but what on earth were Maine authorities doing in China, of all places? And arresting people?
The article had a photo of three obviously Chinese-looking people, two men and a woman. And the lede was as follows:
Maine authorities say they raided an illegal marijuana operation in China over the weekend, arresting three people and seizing 970 plants.
Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say.
And then it struck me – because I know a thing or two about Maine – that this was in China, Maine:
China is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,408 at the 2020 census. China is included in the Augusta, Maine micropolitan NECTA.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 56.86 square miles (147.27 km2), of which 49.88 square miles (129.19 km2) is land and 6.98 square miles (18.08 km2) is water. Bodies of water in the town include China Lake (3939 acres), Three Mile Pond (1174 acres), and Branch Pond (310 acres).
But why was the town named “China”? The reason isn’t what one might think:
The name of the town was chosen by Japheth Washburn. He wanted to call the town Bloomville, but people from the town of Bloomfield objected, saying that the similarity of names could cause confusion. Mr. Washburn settled on the name China, because it was the name of one of his favorite hymns. This widely sung hymn was written by Timothy Swan of Northfield, Massachusetts in 1790 and was published in Swan’s “New England Harmony” in 1801.
Here’s the hymn. But why is it called “China”? I haven’t a clue.
I think I read about this, but it was framed as a Mainland China operation. Screw around with the facts.
Here in Boise one of the main drags through town is called “Chinden.” It’s a portmanteau of “China” and “Garden” and is a nod to the Chinese railroad workers that provided the labor to build the Union Pacific mainline through southern Idaho.
Brings to mind the old Doobie Brothers song, “China Grove,” about a town in Texas.
China Texas isn’t too far from Moscow.
Then there’s “Paris, Texas,” a 1984 Wim Wenders film based on a Sam Shepherd script, which won the Palme d’Or. It has an intriguing cast: Harry Dean Stanton, Natassja Kinski and Dean Stockwell.
I’ll have to watch it again. 1984 was 40 years ago!
Plus Moscow, Idaho. A real place, though not a film.
There is a Mexico, Maine, which is next to Rumford, Maine. The owner of Sippican Cottage blog lives in Rumford. He has interesting stories on home renovation, which interests me because my father rehabbed every room in our house.
I have driven through China, TX. Which reminds me of a song that works in a lot of Texas towns, such as Palestine, Paris, etc. Bill Neely: Never Left the Lone Star State. I once heard Bill Neely sing this song live on the radio.
I knew Moscow Idaho residents from both my childhood and in my recent life. Different people, different eras.
Speaking of marijuana growing, my sister and I recently visited our cousin in rural Oklahoma. He drove us by greenhouses growing MJ, owned by Chinese IIRC.
It looks like the closest China, ME gets to anything reminiscent of East Asia is that there are two small streets named Canton and Peking, respectively. Not even a Chinese take-out place, as far as I can tell.
Curious how many towns throughout central Maine have the same name as some town in NY. There’s even a town called Maine. In Maine!
Southern Illinois is (or used to be) called “Little Egypt”. A prominent town there is Cairo, which I think is pronounced “Kay-roe”.
Don’t trust everything you read on the internet.
https://sacredharpbremen.org › 163b-china
163b China – Sacred Harp Bremen
Mr. Washburn settled on the name China, because it was the name of one of his favorite hymns. This widely sung hymn was written by Timothy Swan of Northfield Massachusetts in 1790 and was published in Swan’s “New England Harmony” in 1801. (Wikipedia, article “China, Maine”)
https://www.suffield-library.org › localhistory › swan.htm
TIMOTHY SWAN (1758-1843) – suffield-library.org
A hymn called “China” composed in 1790 and his most well known, was considered by the composer as his best. It was named for a town in Maine, and was first published in 1801 in New England Harmony.
The first entry wins: according to Wikipedia “On June 25, 1818, the Town of China was incorporated by combining Harlem, Fairfax (Albion), and Winslow” which was long after Swan wrote his tune.
At one time, before the War, he worked for an “importer of foreign goods” in the Colonies; maybe one source of goods was China (English imports predated The Old China Trade “spanning from shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 to the Treaty of Wanghia in 1844”), or perhaps he liked the name because it could be related to foreign missionary activities. The Protestant efforts began “with the English missionary Robert Morrison in 1807”, but he followed “the Jesuits who had been established in China for more than a century.”
Here is a copy of the music, which makes it easier to follow the unfamiliar harmonies of the old tradition in the video.
Enjoying shape-note singing is a learned taste.
https://sacredharpbremen.org/163b-china/
Moscow, Vermont exists too. Much more agreeable than its Russian counterpart, I’m sure.
Paris Texas.
West New York, NJ…
And then there’s all the Biblical names.
Here’s a question:
When outposts and then towns and cities will be established on Alpha Centauri, will they be called, e.g., “New New York”? “New New England”? “New New Canaan”? “New New London”? “New New Bedford”? “New New Hamphire”? “New New Zealand”? “New New Guinea”?, well you get the idea…
In Texas you can take State Highway 19 north from Palestine (Pal-es-TEEN, if you are a local and pass through Athens and Canton on your way to Paris.
As noted elsewhere China is the name of the tune for a hymn “Why do we Mourn departing friends, words by Isaac Watts (https://hymnary.org/text/why_do_we_mourn_departing_friends). Mr Watts wrote LOTS of hymns.
Moscow, Vermont exists too.
I thought Bernie Sanders and his new wife honeymooned in the USSR, presumably including some time in Moscow, Russia. Maybe some reporter got confused and misinformed us?
Barry, no one has seemed yet to have tried the intuitive ‘Newer York’….