I chose to include Van in the list since the first thing I think of is the B.A. Baracus’ van from the A-Team (https://www.hotcars.com/a-team-van-facts). Other famous vans include the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo and the Mutt Cutts van from Dumb and Dumber. The postcard I sent was a self-printed card of Mr. T in front of the A-Team van — a black and metallic grey 1983 GMC Vandura.
The city of Van went through a number of names before settling on Van. In the 1860s it was supposedly named “Ratty Town”. It’s not a reflection of the town itself but named after someone with the unfortunate name of “Ratty Towns.” It then became known as Swindall, but eventually became Van when the post office was established. The name comes from two people: Henry Vance, who was the first postmaster, and a citizen named Vannie Tunnell. Incidentally, it’s not named after the county it’s located in — Van Zandt. That’s named after Republic of Texas leader Isaac Van Zandt.
Van is a fairly small town with a population of about 2700. While driving through on my way to the post office I noticed the Van Area Oil and Historical Museum. Even though it’s normally only open on Saturdays, one of the volunteers was there and gave me a quick look inside. I’ll need to stop by again during normal business hours since there’s quite a bit to see both inside and outside.
