Official Town Name

According to the Ivanhoe Centennial, there are two different stories about how Ivanhoe got its name.

According to an article in the Ivanhoe Times (the town's newspaper) in 1950 by Mrs. Lena Wayland, the historical record states that the founding fathers of the town had become acquainted with Sir Walter Scott's historical novel and gave the town and its streets names based on the story.

The folktale version often told among Ivanhoe citizens is that a young woman had been traveling on the train and stopped in the area while the founders were deciding on a name for their home. Because she had been reading the novel on the train, she suggested the title be the name of the town.

As you'll find in other pages within this wiki, many of the names of the streets were based off of characters, estates and other ideas within the novel. Many of the businesses, such as the "Camelot Cafe" (now Country Time Cafe) and Rotherwood Square, also had been originally named from ideas within the novel or from the era.

We can even see the traditions continue with the Norman St Plaza. This small park, located in the middle of the business section of Norman Street, offers beautiful murals of the towns traditions along with benches for residents and visitors to relax on.