The Peter Stuyvesant High School Peg Legs

Peter Stuyvesant was born in 1592 in Friesland, the Netherlands. In 1643, while the Director General of the Dutch West Indies Company with responsibility for the island colonies of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, he was severely injured in a fight on the then Portuguese island of St, Martin. His injury resulted in the amputation of his right leg below the knee. He was fitted for a peg leg, covered with filigrees of silver, of which he became exceedingly proud. People would come from miles around just to see it. Stuyvesant was soon given the larger responsibility for Dutch possessions in the New World, headquartered in New Amsterdam. Although he successfully dislodged the Swedes from those possessions which bordered the Delaware River and made peace with the Indians there, he eventually was forced to surrender New Amsterdam to the English forces led by the Duke of York, hence changing the name to New York. Peter Stuyvesant High School, located not far from the site of Stuyvesant's farm, the Bouwerji, is one of the crown jewels of American public education. It is also close to the site of the World Trade Centers, Ground Zero. Its halls were utilized during the horrendous days following September 11th by the search and rescue teams. The nickname of Peter Stuyvesant High School? The Peg Legs!

 

Fun with History: Delphi High School Oracles

The prize for most imaginative use of history in establishing high school nicknames is shared by several communities. The town of Delphi, with its 2500 inhabitants is the seat of Carroll County in north central Indiana. The name Delphi was selected in honor of the ancient Greek city, site of the most important of all Greek temples and the Oracle of Apollo. Ancient Delphi was considered the center of the world by the Greeks, its location having been determined where the eagle Zeus let fly from the East met the one he let fly from the West. Not a bad name for a small settlement in the relatively new state of Indiana, perhaps, for the locals anyway, the second center of the world. At any rate, the Delphi High School teams are wonderfully called the Oracles. Prize Number One: the Oracles of Delphi.

 

Fun Town/School Names: Blossom Prairie Blossoms

The prize for most fun in combining athletic team nicknames with town names is shared by many places all around the country. Many of these names are wonderfully whimsical and charming.
Much of the Great Prairie, beginning in Indiana and flowing westward from there, is now cultivated land. There are patches of prairie left, however, and efforts are being made to revive and extend these precious lands. Anyone who has seen these prairies in bloom will not soon forget their haunting beauty. The citizens of one town in southern Minnesota certainly were aware of that when they named their town Blooming Prairie. Years later, when their high school teams needed a nickname, they kept the theme. The Blooming Prairie Blossoms, generally referred to as the "Awesome Blossoms"!