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How Yulan Got Its Name
by Larry Stern
There were 2 rumors that have been debated for years.
The first was that Chinese immigrants who helped build the railroad, named the town Yulan.
The second rumor was the Indians named the town Yulan.
The real story, told to me by lifetime resident Walt Metzger age 97:
The town supervisors had submitted many names to the government to name the town. After many names and government rejections, one of the supervisors (Possibly Mr. Owen) finally opened up a dictionary and picked Yulan. It was submitted to the government and accepted. This is how the town got its name.
Yulan- A deciduous Chinese tree (Magnolia heptapeta) often cultivated
for its large, cup-shaped, fragrant white flowers
[Chinese (Mandarin) yùlán : yù, jade + lán,
orchid.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition
yulan
\Yu"lan\, n. (Bot.) A species of Magnolia (M. conspicua) with large
white blossoms that open before the leaves. See the Note under Magnolia.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA,
Inc.
(Note from Ecki: I kept hearing that Yulan meant "laurel" in Japanese, which would be appropriate considering that there's a lot of mountain laurel growing in the area, and Yulan is known as "The Laurel Hamlet". It's interesting to see that a Yulan is acutally a Magnolia!)
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