A town near me (in New England) has an “Old Cathole Rd.” I thought it was unique until I drove by another “Cathole Rd.” about a hundred miles away.
No one seems to know what a cathole was or might have been in the last 300 years of local history. The only definition I can find is for the little hole hikers dig to poop in.
Nwingland is full of such silly-sounding road names - “Butt” being common, as in “Town Butt Rd.” but that refers to a giant barrel from which the town drew water. (There’s also the “New England Butt Company,” which started off making butt hinges.)
Some think it might be a corruption of “Catholic” but the only Catholic church in town is right where it’s always been since about 1740. Nowhere near the road.
There’s a cave in Wales called Cathole Cave which, being a cave, is literally a hole.
There is also a Cathole Mountain in Connecticut (and nearby Cathole Pass) though I’m not sure if it’s named after or otherwise related to the Welsh cave.
Both are alternatively called “Cat Hole” so neither is connected to Catholicism.
The Historical Dictionary of American Slang’s first citation of “cathole” in the “latrine” sense is from 1978, so it’s unlikely to be source of a name that’s 300 years old. It says it was originally a military term.
OED says 1) Cat den or hole; 2) a hole large enough for a cat to pass thru; 3) the nautical term listed above.
It also lists #1 marked with a dagger (mine is the 1922 edition), but I don’t know how old the road name is. But I’d guess either #1 or #2 is the answer.
Also, it’s pronounced with two syllables “cat-hole,” not three as in “kuh-THO-lee.”
Well the dictionary obviously can only report what’s been written and published. That can lag oral usage by many years. Nevertheless, that’s interesting that you remember oral usage from that far back.
“gats”?