When I started researching this article, I originally thought that it was going to end up being something goofy. But it turned into something much more interesting.

Here's how I started - as we were kicking blog ideas around the office, someone suggested that it would be funny to go to Google and see what comes up when you type in "why is [TOWN]..." and see what search suggestions come up.

Of course, the thought is that the most searched for phrases would be silly things like "why is Toms River lame?" or "why is Toms River boring?". Goofy stuff like that. But what came up was much more interesting:

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Of course, it sent me into the vast reaches of cyberspace to learn the answer. So, why is Toms River called Toms River?

Here's the answer:

According to Wikipedia, there were originally a couple theories about who the "Tom" in question was exactly.

And finally, we have a gentleman by the name of Thomas Luker., who operated a ferry across the Goose Creek River - which is now called, wait for it, The Toms River.

In 1992, for the township's 225th anniversary, Thomas Luker was officially recognized as the "Tom" who lent his name to the township that we now know, and the "River" part being the river that he earned his living from ferrying people across.

So there it is! You never know what you might find on the Internet! When you think that you may end up with a silly, throwaway response, you might just end up with something really interesting!

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