SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Those driving east along County Road 419 might see a sign at the side of the ride with the name “Taintsville” plastered across it.
While not a commonly known area, Taintsville is a small, unincorporated village nestled between Oviedo and Chuluota.
Its name might evoke a more vulgar connotation, but it actually stems back to the 1970s.
According to local historian Jason Byrne, the county used to have many “in-between” areas of wilderness between major towns — and this was one such area.
As a result of not belonging to any specific town, there was a lot of confusion for locals during this period.
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“They were all kind of venting about how letters wouldn’t get delivered or how they would try to explain to people where they live,” Byrne said. “Zip codes were around by then, but I think they were still a little bit optional. Not all the roads had names.”
However, residents didn’t want to just be lumped in with the nearby Chuluota or Oviedo. They wanted their own identity.
Byrne explained that the few dozen families who lived there began joking about making their own town, though that soon became a real discussion.
During one such conversation, a teenager named Boyd Best was complaining about how hard it was to tell friends where he lived, Byrne added.
“We ‘tain’t in Chuluota and it ‘tain’t in Oviedo either!” Best exclaimed.
And with that, the name “Taintsville” was born.
Neighbors stealthily put up signs to indicate the new (as-yet unauthorized) name, causing confusion between the county and state as to who had put them up.
“The signage looked professional enough, and each assumed the other had placed it,” Byrne wrote. “About a week later, the jig was up, and the government removed the signs.”
Despite the setback, villagers eventually persuaded a county commissioner to add the issue to the county’s agenda at an upcoming meeting.
County records show that the village was officially recognized as Taintsville in 1971. A resident named Ted Peterson told the county commission that every property owner he had talked to was on board with the name.
“(Peterson) stated their request was made in all seriousness, and they feel the quaintness of the name will be an asset and will draw interest,” the county’s resolution reads.
Nowadays, the word “taint” has come to mean the area between a person’s anus and genitals, leading to the village’s name taking on a much more comedic meaning.
“It is definitely the connotation that word has taken in modern times — which I don’t believe it had in the ‘70s — that has made it all the more peculiar,” Byrne said.
For more on the history of Taintsville and other locations in Florida, you can visit Byrne’s Florida History Blog by clicking here.
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