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Off Beat: From a search of St. Helens’ heritage, the light of revelation glows

By Tom Vogt, Columbian Science, Military & History Reporter
Published: September 21, 2015, 9:49am

Following the recent Mount McKinley/Denali name transition, we recently explored the likelihood of our local volcano being renamed to follow Northwest tribal traditions.

(Not happening anytime soon, by the way.)

As part of that story, reporter Eric Florip offered a reminder on how 1780s explorer George Vancouver named many of the Northwest’s most prominent peaks — Hood, Rainier and Baker — after fellow British naval officers.

Mount St. Helens was named after a friend of Vancouver’s — Alleyne Fitzherbert, whose title was Baron St. Helens.

As Eric’s story made its way into print, it got some newsroom staffers wondering about another step into the past. Where did the St. Helens reference in the baron’s title originate?

Eventually, an online search led to the community of St. Helens, in the county of Lancashire.

A British ‘Chap’

Early references include a church that is listed as “St Helins Chap” on a 1610 map. Variations on that name reportedly included St Hellins, St Hellens, St Helyns and St. Elyns.

The community eventually became an industrial center, since it was built right on top of a coalfield. With that coal as well as an abundance of sand, the region became a glassmaking center.

Columbian copy editor Susan Abe found a marvelous echo of that heritage in a municipal symbol. The coat of arms issued in 1876 to the St. Helens County Borough Council featured three Latin words: “Ex Terra Lucem” … or “From the Ground, Light.”

It could refer to the burnable coal mined for centuries; it could refer to the glass that brought light into the interiors of buildings.

And as Susan noted, it’s “also not a bad metaphor for a volcano.”


 

Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.

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Columbian Science, Military & History Reporter