WHAT’S IN A NAME?

FERRIS – The “Twilight Zone” – imagine if you will, a street name that was spelled wrong for years.

A group of people living in the city where the street sign was spelled wrong for years deciding to discuss it.

Some people not liking the conversation.

And then, magically, there is a legitimate answer to the misspelling of the poor little street with an identity crisis because of its name.

Last week, “Ferris Town Talk” on Facebook blew up when residents began asking if the street in Ferris known as Mable had changed its name.

“Mabel at some point was labeled Mable, and even Google and other items show conflicting information,” said Ferris City Manager Brooks Williams.

“For example, it will show the map and the street name as, “Mabel,” and then the address you type in is, “Mable.”  

Comments on Ferris Town Talk were diverse, and some folks got downright hostile about it.

Ferris City Councilman, Jay Walsh, Place 4, said when he first moved to Ferris the street was spelled Mabel.

Another longtime resident of Ferris, Cindy Cousins Aspin, said the spelling of the street has been Mabel for over 60 years.

Sue Ragland Finch said, “I lived there 22 years, working for the PD, and always thought it was a girl not a tree, which one is right?”

Ferris City Councilman, Place 1, Clayton Hunter tried to explain, “Here is the real reason for the different spelling. Many, many years ago, maybe around 25 or even longer, the City ordered new street signs, which was delivered misspelled (Mable) not sure if the city was refunded any money but (the city) decided to use the signs anyway, that’s how it went from Mabel to Mable.”

These days even some drivers license say Mable, but that would be wrong.

In 1921 the street was named and spelled Mabel. 

Williams says the original plat shows, “Mabel,” and “that is the therefore the correct spelling” he concluded.

“The TxDot MUTC (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control) had been updated and requires us to change the size of our street signs – what we really like to call an “unfunded mandate,” and so we are changing our signs. That is where this began.”

And now it is the end – the 99-year-old street name can finally come to terms with its identity crisis.