Anacoco

Anacoco takes its name from nearby Anacoco Bayou, which empties into the Sabine River. The earlierst spellings (1797) for the bayou name are Lianaucucu and Leaunacucou. Other versions are Anacucu, Yanacoco, Yanecoocoo, Yanakoka, De Koocoque, and Kan Coque.

The first element of Anacoco is a derivative of the Spanish ilano or liana, “plain”; later spellings dropped the initial “l,” mistaking it for the French definite article. (The French succeeded the Spanish in the settlement of the area.) There are several meanings for the second element of the word “coco,” including “raincrow prairie,” “cuckoo prairie,” and “nutgrass prairie.”

In September 1875, the Anacoco post office opened with John I. Kirk as postmaster. The post office closed in July 1899, and its mail was routed through the new Orange post office. Gray’s map of 1878 lists the village of Anacoco.

–Leeper, Clare D’Artois. Louisiana Place Names: Popular, Unusual, and Forgotten Stories of Towns, Cities, Plantations, Bayous, and Even Some Cemeteries. Louisiana State University Press.