Frognot Community

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, east of Blue Ridge, tucked down in a valley near the creeks and branches, sits a community with a name that'll stop you mid-sentence. Frognot.

Or Frog Not. Or Frog Nod. Or Frogknot.

Depending on who you ask and what mood they're in. And the thing is, nobody fully agrees on how it got called any of those things. The marker lays out the theories, and I'm gonna give you every last one of them, because they're all worth hearing.

The foundation of this whole community was the Dixon consolidated school, which got its start in 1913 on land donated by a man named Stephen Arnold Douglas Box. And with that school came a schoolmaster by the name of Mr. Homer Parkins.

Now, Mr. Parkins ran a tight ship. And one of his firm policies, no frogs.

See, those creeks nearby, particularly Indian Creek, would fill up with frogs after a good rain, and the kids being kids, they'd scoop those frogs right up and try to smuggle them into school. Mr. Parkins said not a chance.

Frog not. And some folks believe that strict little rule, repeated enough times, took root in the name of the community itself. But that's only one theory.

Here's another. Not long after the community was established in the early 1900s, the residents apparently decided they'd had enough of the frog situation. There were too many of them, loud and everywhere, and the people set about eradicating the population.

Within a short time, they virtually wiped out the frog populace. Frognot. No frogs.

Gone. And if you find that one a little harsh, consider this version: the community may have started as Frog Nod, because those frogs were extremely loud while nodding off to sleep. Whatever that sounded like echoing off those creek bottoms at night, it was apparently memorable enough to name a place after.

And then there's the railroad theory, which has nothing to do with amphibians at all, not really. A railroad switch is also known as a railroad frog, and the story goes that residents did not want a noisy railroad switch nearby. Frog Not.

Don't bring that thing here. Four theories. One name.

Take your pick. Now the community itself carried on, theories and all. In the late 1930s, John and Ollie McGuffey opened the first general store out there.

Then in the 1950s, Otis and Hazel Dixon opened a second one, the Dixon Store, which became the social center of the whole community. People gathered there, talked, made decisions. In fact, the Frognot Water Supply Corporation was founded right there at the Dixon Store.

Today, all that remains of this rural community is the concrete storm cellar from the Dixon School. That old cellar sitting quiet in the valley, near the creeks, near Indian Creek where the frogs still come out after a rain. The schoolmaster is long gone.

The stores are gone. The frogs, well, they came back. They always do.

But the name Frognot? That one stuck.

What the marker says

Situated near creeks and branches in a valley east of Blue Ridge, the Frognot community (also known as Frog Not, Frog Nod, Frogknot) has a number of theories as to the origins of its name. Most of these theories involve frogs that appear in the nearby Indian Creek following a rain. Several theories are associated with the nearby Dixon consolidated school, which served as the foundation for the establishment of the community in the early 1900s. The school was founded in 1913 on land from Stephen Arnold Douglas Box. The school had a strict schoolmaster, Mr. Homer Parkins, who would not allow kids to bring frogs they captured in the creek to school. This policy evolved into several stories as to the origin of the community name. Another theory is that soon after the community was founded, the people attempted to eradicate the overabundant frog population. Within a short time, they virtually wiped out the frog populace, giving the community the name Frognot. Some believe that the community began as Frog Nod because the frogs were extremely loud while nodding off to sleep, and eventually became Frognot. Another theory is that the residents did not want a noisy railroad switch, which is also known as a railroad frog, and thus the community was named Frog Not. In the late 1930s, John and Ollie McGuffey opened the first general store. A second store was opened in the 1950s by Otis and Hazel Dixon. The Dixon Store served as the social center of the community and was the location of the foundation of the Frognot Water Supply Corporation. The concrete storm cellar from the Dixon School is all that remains of this rural community.