Stop putting on airs - you live in Frogtown!

Historically speaking, a lot of us don't live where we think we do. Take Fallston, Maryland for example. It was once a little village, but now it appears to be tens of miles long. The village never grew, just the definition. A lot of this has to do with the post office. Postal codes (and before that, railroads), have had a huge influence on place names and the distortion of said names. (Most famously perhaps, is Albuquerque, New Mexico, which used to be Alburquerque, until the railroad's sign painter dropped an "R.")
I live in Fallston, Maryland, but not Fallston proper. A hundred years ago, living in the same place, it may have been referred to as Laurel Brook, or maybe Lancaster Corner (sometimes mistakenly called Lower Crossroads, which is in Churchville), or perhaps Overshot Branch (a stream that feeds into Laurel Brook) - as in "he lives along the Overshot Branch of Laurel Brook." Lately, I hear there's a Walmart going in "Fallston," but it isn't really, it's being built in Benson.
Which brings us to the other reason places get renamed: cachet. Fallston has a higher status than Benson. {In its heyday, Benson was home to some impressive estates, such as Mount Soma. It also had a sizable African American population (large enough to rate a "colored school"), both of which are mostly gone, fragmented, and forgotten.} Fallston also seems to have eaten up Bagley, Wilna, Mountain, and is encroaching on Clayton.
Another good example of this is Rock Spring. Go to Google maps and find Rock Spring in Harford County, it isn't there. Instead, the map reads Frogtown. But Frogtown sounds a bit seedy. Why buy a cheap crap-shack in Frogtown, when you can lord it over a froufrou McMansion in Rock Spring? Ostentation always trumps geography.
Was there ever a Rock Spring in Harford County? It isn't listed in the index of place names at the Maryland State Archives. However, Martenet's Map of Harford County, Maryland (1878), does list Rock Spring Episcopal Church. I'm guessing that's the origin of the name. Indeed, "Our Harford Heritage" (OHH), lists "Christ Church at Rock Spring" as being founded in 1805. So there was, in some form, a real Rock Spring, but it was much smaller than Frogtown - Wright refers to Rock Spring as a "neighborhood." OHH also states that "Frog Town" (2 words), was the terminus and collection point of a toll road from Bel Air.
There is also a Rock Springs in Cecil County. (It used to be the location of a chrome mine.) Interestingly, Route 222, right off Route 1 in Cecil County is marked on the map as Rock Spring Road (singular) and then turns into Rock Springs Road (plural) closer to Rock Springs. Could Harford's Rock Spring Road have turned onto what is now Route 1 and meandered its way to the now forgotten town of Rock Springs? Maybe, but the church seems the more likely answer, especially considering that the road next to the church is still called Rock Spring Church Road. Rock Spring Road was probably the new road name after the demise of the turnpike.
Personally, I'd much rather live in Frogtown than Rock Spring. It would be fun to revive some of those old Harford names: Bodt Corner, Carea, Drybranch, Ferncliff, Macton, Minefield, Rutledge, Sharon, Weldonbet, etc. They are still on the maps, all you gotta do is look.

Photo: 1. Laurel Brook Station (MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY) 2. Christ Church - Rock Spring Parish (Nightening)