How many names can a community have? Well, we know of one that has had three. The Meltabarger family is well known and respected in their community. If my memory serves me correctly, Jim Meltabarger has been a county commissioner. He is now active with the Union County Historical Society and his wife, Joyce Myers Meltabarger is currently a county commissioner.

I also remember a long time ago when I was in high school Patsy Kelly Shoffner, Betty Jo Kelly Satterfield and the late Carl McDaniel all told me they lived at Condon. Recently, I had a call asking if I knew how Plainview got its name, and the following is the information that I passed on. I thought some of the rest of the readers might like to read the story.

Condon--this community was originally known as Meltabarger for the family by that name; descendants of which still live there. Mr. Edward Corum said he heard Mr. Hugh L. Hubbs say the name was changed because Meltabarger was hard for the older people to say and to spell. The name was changed to Condon on July 28, 1896 for the family that had that name, but the name has now been changed to Plainview. When a school was being built in this area in 1928, Rev. James Davis, who lived nearby, took the opportunity of the community gathering for the Christmas Program at the school; wrote the suggested names on the black board and the attendees voted on the names. Plainview received the most votes. He is supposed to have said, “Everything here is all out in plain view, so let’s just call it Plainview. When the town was incorporated, the name was kept.