# Strange Place Names



## Buck (Apr 16, 2007)

While posting on my Rabbit Hash thread it ocurred to me that there are weird place names all over.  Join in this thread and post some strange place names from your state or country. 

i'll start with Kentucky:

Gravel Switch, Monkey's Eyebrow, Cut Shin, Decoy, Hippo, Krypton, Mud Lick, Oddville, Pippa Passes, Quicksand and Shoulderblade.

Now it's your turn...


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## AllenOK (Apr 16, 2007)

I actually have a database with all the placenames in Michigan.  I also have a book that lists all the placenames for Oklahoma.  Off the top of my head, both states have a Remus, and a Romulus.  Michigan also has H e l l, and Oklahoma has a Nowhere.


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 16, 2007)

*MISSISSIPPI*

Funny...Cold Water, Hot Coffee  

Tongue Twisters....Yazoo City, Biloxi, Pasgagoula, Kosciusko  (Oprah W. home town)


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## auntdot (Apr 16, 2007)

*Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.  It is a lake in MA I went with to my folks when I was a kid.  Actually the pronunciation is fairly simple, but it takes someone to explain it.  Once you have it, just takes a minute or two, it seems so simple.*
** 
*Oh, for weenies, some call it Webster Lake.*


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## Robo410 (Apr 16, 2007)

Pennsylvania has Blue Ball and Intercourse.  Maryland also has a Blue Ball, and a Lillypons.


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## JoAnn L. (Apr 16, 2007)

In Iowa we have:

Correctionville
Defiance
Fertile
Manly
Balltown
what Cheer


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## Katie H (Apr 16, 2007)

Buck, don't forget these from Kentucky, too:

Cold Water
Stella
Lovelaceville
Fancy Farm
Moscow
Paris


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## fireweaver (Apr 16, 2007)

in my homeland of TX, there is a dime box and a snook and a cut and shoot (yeppers, that last one is real, though i don't know why you'd bother to cut someone after you already shot 'em), and bexar county is pronounced "bear" while nueces county is pronounced "neches".

ooh, and check out this webpage full of other hilarous place names, which does in fact confirm kentucky as being the winner of oddity.


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 16, 2007)

Four More from Mis'sipi

BoBo...SoSo...Zero....It


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## Andy M. (Apr 16, 2007)

Coxsackie, NY.


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## kitchenelf (Apr 16, 2007)

Don't laugh - we have a town called Elf - and no, I don't live there  

Bat Cave (I hate I leaked the whereabouts of the batmobile - sorry Batman!)
Lizard Lick
Aho
Cat Square
Big Lick
Duck
Big Butt (I should live here  )
Horneytown
and drumroll please.................................

Whynot


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## Andy M. (Apr 16, 2007)

Let's not forget the world famous, French Lick, Indiana.


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## middie (Apr 17, 2007)

Darn, nothing good in Ohio.

elf... Horneytown ???????? I should send the bf to live there !


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## IronSides (Apr 17, 2007)

I like Balltown, Iowa....hehehe


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## sparrowgrass (Apr 17, 2007)

Humptulips, Washington.


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## lulu (Apr 17, 2007)

Blimey, there are too many in England to mention.  I lived for a while near the Welsh border and pronouncing some of the place names there was a nightmare, but just funny ones in UK.....there are too many, even within my county.....I don't like driving through a place called Catsgore (where there is always, as the name suggests; roadkill).  My dog likes Piddle Valley, there is a well known school called Sexey School, which happens to be opposite a road called Lover's Lane, and all though the town name is not too funny, the part of the town it is in is called Lusty.  There are the Camels: Queen Camel, West Camel..doubly funny because they have hump back prefab houses which look like camels, Cheddare Gorge (the home of the cheese, and when we vist DH indeed gorges on cheddar) and of course or main town is called Bath!


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## expatgirl (Apr 17, 2007)

Andy, would you believe that coxsackie is also another name for a horrible virus?  It's also known as hoof, foot, and mouth disease--I'm sure that there is NO correlation wth the city in NY!!!!!


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## expatgirl (Apr 17, 2007)

In Texas, there is also a Woman Hollering Creek (many unconfirmed legends exist as to why it was named that in the first place) and Macho Creek near San Antonio.  But it's not named that because it's "strong and vibrant" but has it's origin in the Spanish word "macho" which means a "gelded mule".  Ouch!!


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## JoAnn L. (Apr 17, 2007)

middie said:
			
		

> Darn, nothing good in Ohio.
> 
> elf... Horneytown ???????? I should send the bf to live there !


 
Middie, I found one for you in Ohio; it's called Knockemstiff, Ohio. It has quite a history.


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## middie (Apr 17, 2007)

I've never even heard of it. Where is it ?


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## ronjohn55 (Apr 17, 2007)

Kalamazoo, MI!

John


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## mudbug (Apr 17, 2007)

Goofy Ridge, in central Illinois.  Just outside of Havana and not too far from San Jose (San Joe's).


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## middie (Apr 17, 2007)

Oh whoa. Okay I found a couple in Ohio I never heard of. But with these names... I'm not so sure they should be posted lol.


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## Barb L. (Apr 17, 2007)

Michigan

How about:
Trout Creek
Climax
Maybee
Bad Axe
Bath


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 17, 2007)

Truth or Consequences,NM or T or C for the short version.


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## Robo410 (Apr 17, 2007)

Reform Alabama, and for Buck, there is Buck Pennsylvania. Also got a Gap, you guessed it, a gap in the mts where the train goes through, and  a Climax too btw.  Delaware has Blades, and Virginia has Angel Visit.

In Virginia the Mata river joins up with the Po and the Ni to form the Mataponi which joins the Paumunkey to form the York.


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## oldcampcook (Jun 13, 2007)

And in Oklahoma, we have "Slap Out" in the panhandle, "Bugtussle" down in the south and "Lo****ah" and "Nowata". "Slick" is another small town. And you notice I live near "Mounds", named for a couple of small hills south of Tulsa.


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## oldcampcook (Jun 13, 2007)

When I was a kid in Maryland, I lived in "Hollywood", which consisted of a grocery store, a gas station and about 3 houses.


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## mudbug (Jun 13, 2007)

that would be in St. Mary's County, oldcampcook, yes?  It's a little bigger now.


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## AllenOK (Jun 13, 2007)

oldcampcook, believe it or not, I've been working on a research project now for several months, to locate ghost towns in OK.  I did the same project when I lived up in Michigan as well, so many of the names some people are dropping are VERY familiar to me.

How about "Nuyaka", OK.  Named as an adaptation of "New Yorker", if I remember right.  Or "Goingsnake", Adair County, named after the name of the county in the Cherokee Nation.  There is a "Remus" and "Romulus" Ok, as well as two towns by those names in Michigan.  "Kay" County got it's name as when the Oklahoma Territory was originally divided up into counties, they were given letters, A, B, C, etc., until the residents changed it.  Kay County was "K County", and the locals decided to keep it, with a spelling change.

I've been through Slapout 8 times.  Just a wide spot in the road, and it made my Ghost Town list for this state.

I have more, but I'd have to spend a lot of time going through my list.


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## oldcampcook (Jun 13, 2007)

*Oklahoma Names*

AllenOK,
There is a book out with Oklahoma Ghost Towns.  I do not know who printed it or who the author was.  I think I can contact an ole boy down in Marlow who might know.
Did you buy your tee-shirt in Slap-out? I about got into a brawl when I bought the last pink one for my daughter and some "furrnier" lady wanted it.  LOL

Oh, gracious, I forgot about "Pink", pronounced "Pank", down by Shawnee.
And Maud and Bowlegs.


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## oldcampcook (Jun 13, 2007)

*Hollywood, Maryland*

Mudbug,
Right on.  We used to go into "town" on Saturday to do the weekly shopping.  My folks spent a quarter on candy for the four of us kids.
Went back there about 6 years ago and all of the farms where we raised "baccy" and corn are all carved up into housing lots.
The lady who owns the place we lived was thrilled when I pointed out where the two holer outhouse was and the pig sty, etc.  LOL


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## AllenOK (Jun 17, 2007)

I've seen _Oklahoma Ghost Towns_, and I believe there's even a sequel.

Unfortunately, neither book lists ALL of them, and that's what I'm interested in.

I was just passing through Slapout, on my way out to New Mexico and back.  Slapout got it's name because the proprietor of the general store would always say he was "slapout" of whatever it was that you wanted to buy.

There's "Eneho", in Canadian County, coined from the words Cheyenne and Arapaho.

There's also "Carter Nine", in Osage County, whose name comes from the Carter Oil Company, and the land description, Section 9, Township 26 North Range 6 East.


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## oldcampcook (Jun 17, 2007)

*Ghost Towns of Oklahoma*

Boy, I wish I could remember all of the ghost towns I have gone thru while I was traveling throughout Oklahoma for 20 odd years. Lots of them down around Antlers and that area.

BTW, I finally found a 4 qt cast iron Dutch Oven and it is in the oven seasoning right now. Have no knead bread rising, so as soon as they both are done, into the oven!


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## Mrs. Cuillo (Jun 17, 2007)

Virginia has a place named Staunton, though it is pronounced "Stanton", Fries, though pronounced "Frees", Spotsylvania, Big Island, Warm Springs (EEEWWW!!), Goochland, Gum Spring, Triangle, Rice, Cochran, Chase City, Tobaccoville, Ballsville, Jetersville, Dolphin, Warfield, Purdy, Triplet, Chuckatuck and any word with "ville" at the end, just to name a few. Who is responsible for naming these places?!?!


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## Constance (Jun 17, 2007)

Here are some dandies I found online...they forgot Dogwalk and Pickle City. 

Be-Ver Kreek, Illinois
Burnt Prairie, IL
Carlock, Illinois
Clinch, Illinois
Cow Bell Lane, IL
Energy, Illinois
Equality, Illinois
Fishhook, Illinois
Frog City, Illinois
Frogtown, Illinois
Garden of Eden, IL
Gas Light Village, IL
Gays, Illinois
Golf, Illinois
Goofy Ridge, Illinois
Grand Detour, Illinois
Half Day, Illinois
Hometown, Illinois
Hop Hollow, Illinois
Kickapoo, Illinois
Limerick, Illinois
Lost Nation, Illinois
Metropolis, Illinois
Normal, Illinois
Oblong, Illinois
Passport, Illinois
Pawnee, Illinois
Ring Neck, Illinois
Roachtown, Illinois
Sandwich, Illinois
Shawneetown, Illinois


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## AllenOK (Jun 18, 2007)

Mrs. Cuillo said:
			
		

> Who is responsible for naming these places?!?!



Many times, it's the first person/family that settles an area, names it.  They'll name it for many different reasons, either after someone in their family, the place they used to live (either in a different state, or back in the "old country"), etc.  If the area was bought lock-stock-and-barrel, by a developer, platted and sub-divided, then sold off by parcel, many times, the original owner named it.  Sometimes a "rural post office" is named after the first postmaster.  A railroad depot might be named for a railroad official, sometimes even though the town's name is something different.

I've found this to be the same for both Oklahoma, and Michigan.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's that way for the entire country.

Here's another one, for up in Michigan.  Novi, MI.  It is believed that the town's name came from the fact that it was located in Section #6 of that township, which at that time, would have been listed on a plat map as No. VI (roman numeral six).

Oldcampcook, I've found that there are literally hundreds of ghost towns in OK, and probably over a thousand in MI.  Most are going to be a couple old homes at some little crossroads in the sticks, while the rest are going to be a "barren site", with nothing left showing, unless you know what to look for.  Many of the "ghost towns" in western OK all started in the 1890's, and died a couple years later.  They were settled in the Land Runs, and when the site proved to be to hard to make a living out of, the residents left.

I wouldn't be surprised, if some of the other folks looked around, at libraries, or online, that they'll find a placenames book for their state.  I knew there was one for OK, and when I moved up to MI, quickly found out there was one there as well.  Chock full of history.


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## Claire (Jun 18, 2007)

I live in Illinois, and that has been covered.  I've travelled the entire country, and love many of these places.  In the midwest, I particularly love the lousy pronunciations of towns.  Cairo (pronounced like the syrup), Papillion (pronounced puppy-yon), etc.  There are so many of them it is a laugh.  I just wonder sometimes how the pronunciations happened.


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## Katie H (Jun 18, 2007)

I know what you mean, Claire.  We live about 20 miles from Cairo (Karo).  There's a town in the central part of our state that is spelled Versailles, which would normally be pronounced Ver-sigh.  Instead, here, it's pronounced Ver-sales.  Go figure.


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## kyles (Jun 18, 2007)

I live in a town called Ramsbottom....

No it's nothing to do with a sheep's derriere

Rams comes from Ramson - the old Lancashire dialect name for the wild garlic that grew here back in the day.

And bottom is the Lancashire dialect for valley

Hence - valley of the wild garlic.


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## Harborwitch (Jun 18, 2007)

We're just up the road a piece from Manteca (lard) which is not too far this side of Salida (exit).  Hmmmmm.


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## Buck (Jun 18, 2007)

Back in my home state of Pennsylvania there's a town named Aquashicola.  It's pronounced "Aqua Shikla."

My Dad used to drive people nuts (on purpose) by pronouncing it "A Quash A Cola."

The town of Jim Thorpe used to be called Mauch Chunk pronounced "Mock Chunk."


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## mudbug (Jun 18, 2007)

Constance said:
			
		

> Here are some dandies I found online...they forgot Dogwalk and Pickle City.
> 
> Goofy Ridge, Illinois



Been there, Connie.  I used to be the editor of the little county newspaper thereabouts - county seat was Havana, IL.  Next door were Bath and Snicarte (sny-cart-ee).

(also not too far from Ver-sales, Katie)


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## AllenOK (Jun 18, 2007)

Buck said:
			
		

> Back in my home state of Pennsylvania there's a town named Aquashicola.  It's pronounced "Aqua Shikla."
> 
> My Dad used to drive people nuts (on purpose) by pronouncing it "A Quash A Cola."
> 
> The town of Jim Thorpe used to be called Mauch Chunk pronounced "Mock Chunk."



Jim Thorpe used to live in the town of Yale, OK, about 45 minutes west of where I live.  The house he lived in is now a museum dedicated to him.


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