The committee reviewing possible names for the new town park on the former drive-in property has submitted a list of six possible names to the Town Council for its consideration, but one name in particular has gotten the support of the Scarborough Historical Society.

The society has suggested the park be named Underhill Park or Underhill Farm Park. The name is derived from the farm that was located on the property from about 1905 to after World War II, and members think it would be an appropriate name for the park.

So does the Scarborough Community Services and Recreation Advisory Board, which is working on developing a name for the park. A list of possible park names was recently submitted to the Town Council for its selection. If the council does not find a name it likes, it could send the issue back to the committee.

The names the committee submitted to the council are: Veteran’s, Memorial, Oak Hill, Community, Freedom and Underhill. The name “Scarborough” may or may not precede the name and words “Park,” “Field,” “Meadows” or something else may or may not follow the name.

According to Jack Cowie, the board’s chairman, there was a three-year window of opportunity for people to submit their suggestions. Cowie said the committee held a two-week town-wide request for names that only produced a couple of responses, some of which were not serious suggestions.

So Cowie researched common park names and found about 28 names that were generic, but were “good, positive names.” Seven of those names were Scarborough-specific, such as Oak Hill, School, Oak Tree and Veterans Park.

But members of the Historical Society feel that Underhill Park is the best suggestion because of its historical significance to the town. Ken Libby, a member of the Scarborough Historical Society’s Board of Directors, came up with the name after meeting with society members and discussing some of the park’s name suggestions.

Libby’s grandfather, James L. Plowman, bought the farm after moving from Portland in 1905. The farm was about 60 acres and Libby grew up across the street from it at his family’s homestead, named Evergreen Farm.

“It was a family farm. He raised beans and he raised corn, potatoes, a few peas,” Libby said. In addition Plowman also raised cows and sold milk to Lund’s Dairy, which was located on Main Street in South Portland.

Plowman was a Scarborough selectman and a dogcatcher and Libby described him as a low-key guy. “He was a big man and didn’t get along very fast,” he said.

After Plowman died in 1943 the farm was passed to his son, Warren Plowman, who kept the farm running through the war but left shortly after it ended. Then Plowman’s wife began selling off some of the property.

Some of the property was sold to Jim Smith of Houlton, who ran a nursing home. Another was sold to the drive-in theater, and a third lot was sold for the Mammoth Mart, which today is the Orion Center.

Libby thinks returning the land to its roots would be good. “I just think it’s appropriate compared to the other names,” he said.

Cowie said another option is naming the park and its various pieces. For example, the park could be named Oak Hill Park and the gazebo could be called the Veteran’s Gazebo and a field could be named something else.

One problem with the name is that few people have even heard of Underhill Farm and to most people the land is the drive-in property, Cowie said.