If it were the UK I would have said they were named for pubs, which were frequently named for the coat of arms (heraldry) of the local landowner/lord. Examples of this are the Red Lion (Red Lion Square, London) - one of the commonest heraldic beasts, along with the White Hart (White Hart Lane, Tottenham). If your area was settled by people from England, they may well have built an inn in the area or named places for the villages and towns they left. Not everyone who settled in America were Puritan pilgrims or teetotallers.

LTS