What's in a name? | Sleepy Hollow Road, North Carolina

The street Sleepy Hollow Road in Camden County carries fears much like Ichabod Crane, who fled from the headless horseman in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Coyotes roam the woods, tall trees loom over the road side and several headstones fill a nearby graveyard.

The road loops about two miles through the countryside, leaving Sawyer's Creek Road not far from N.C. 343 and the local courthouse and then intersecting Sawyer's Creek Road again. Except for short paved sections at each intersection, Sleepy Hollow Road is gravel and dirt.

Where the road’s name came from is a mystery. Some say there may once have been a bear sleeping in a tree hollow. Others say residents were fearful to walk the road after dark and so it was named for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” “I don’t know what to tell you on that for sure,” said Alex Leary, a lifelong Camden County resident and local historian.