# Boringly ordinary town names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091 "2021-04-30T07:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/101 "2021-05-09T15:14:11Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > Uncertain, Texas > > Which I’ve been to. Me to, though sorta by accident. My coworker and I were TDY at Barksdale AFB for a few days in 2019. We got our work done early, looked at a map, and decided to drive up to Caddo Lake. It’s a beautiful lake, especially the western end! We then stumbled upon Uncertain, TX. I took a pic of a sign for the church. [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/38b621mjq7nstr9/0327191248.jpg?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/38b621mjq7nstr9/0327191248.jpg?dl=0) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/102 "2021-05-09T15:49:38Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Hamilton, Ohio is just down the road from Middletown. In 1986, city council decided to change its name from **Hamilton** to _ **Hamilton!** _. That has to be one of the least successful name changes in history. Virtually no one actually spells the name of the town with the exclamation point. It also would be problematic for some databases to include it. I once tried to search for “Hamilton!” in the GNIS database and got an error. It seems the bang is used as a special search character which I wasn’t using correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/103 "2021-05-10T12:13:52Z")
A few cities with hot springs have named themselves “Hot Springs”. I always love the story about how Hot Springs, New Mexico changed its name. [Truth or Consequences, New Mexico - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_or_Consequences,_New_Mexico) ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/104 "2021-05-10T13:28:01Z")
Collector ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/105 "2021-05-24T11:44:46Z")
Both Cleveland and Cincinnati have sizable suburban towns called “Highland Heights” (one is in Kentucky). ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/106 "2021-05-24T11:52:52Z")
Well, since we’re on the subject; why does pretty much every state between Chicago and my native Massachusetts have a town named “Lodi” in it? I looked it up: > (Italian ˈlɔːdi) n. (Placename) a town in N Italy, in Lombardy: scene of Napoleon’s defeat of the Austrians in 1796. Ooooooh, whoop de do! ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/107 "2021-05-24T14:14:18Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Springfield–found literally in every State of the Union. Even better: Springtown, and it’s cousin, Brookville. If you’re in Washington, you can visit [Ocean Shores](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Shores,_Washington), which is at the ocean shore, and [Long Beach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Beach,_Washington), whivh gas a beach… There’s also [Long Beach Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Beach_Island) in New Jersey. And there’s Bend, North Bend and Sound Bend, all named for a bend in a nearby river. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/108 "2021-05-24T14:21:54Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Well, since we’re on the subject; why does pretty much every state between Chicago and my native Massachusetts have a town named “Lodi” in it? I looked it up: > > > (Italian ˈlɔːdi) n. (Placename) a town in N Italy, in Lombardy: scene of Napoleon’s defeat of the Austrians in 1796. > > Ooooooh, whoop de do! You don’t want to be stuck in any of them. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/109 "2021-05-24T14:53:51Z")
The Grand Trunk Railroad in Canada named its stations in alphabetical order. The stations later became communities. > **[List of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Grand_Trunk_Pacific_Railway_stations)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > This is a partial list of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations. > The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway used an alphabetical station naming system for railway stations along its mainline from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The name of the GTP railway station usually became the name of the town that developed in close proximity to it. A similar system was used in a part of Ontario. > > Beginning at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, an... ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/110 "2021-05-24T20:48:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Grand Trunk Railroad in Canada named its stations in alphabetical order That method of naming stations was not unique to the GTP. There were at least three instances of that in the US. However, they did it more than most. That list has 6 sets of alpha sequences, and since it’s an incomplete list, there could be more. I don’t think any of those in the US even got to Z of one sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/111 "2021-05-25T04:04:59Z")
I know the alphabetic scheme on the Burlington headed west out of Lincoln, Nebr. (Crete, Dorchester, Exeter, Fairfield . . .) and the one on the Santa Fe in San Bernardino Co., Calif. (Amboy, Bristol, Cadiz, Danby, Edson . . . ), but where are the others? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/112 "2021-05-25T04:30:45Z")
The other set is in Iowa, going west out of Clinton. According to [this page](https://www.delmaria.org/about.htm), the stations were Almont, Bryant, Charlotte, Delmar. Looking at a current road atlas, there’s an Elwood in about the right location for the next station, so that may be the next one. Don’t know if it goes on from there. It says the sequence was on the Midland Railroad. Wikipedia has several lines with that name, but, based on their names, none of those operated in Iowa. ETA: apparently, it was the Iowa Midland Railway. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/113 "2021-05-26T14:03:02Z")
The most boringly ordinary town name in Iowa is probably State Center, named for being close to the geographical center of the state (42°00′57″N 93°09′51″W for you geography fans). Slightly less boringly ordinary is Center, North Dakota, named for being at the center of Oliver County but which actually turns out to be at the center of North America. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/114 "2021-05-26T19:31:56Z")
Way back in 2001, I wrote an article for Word Ways magazine about the most common place names in the US. You can read it [here](https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol34/iss2/5/) (hit the Download button). The two most common place names were Fairview and Midway. There were 256 Fairviews and 250 Midways in what I called the extended count. The extended count included alternate names, places that no longer exist, subdivision names, and those with a space in the middle of the name. These two names were also the most common in the basic count, which did not include all those variants, with 201 Fairviews and 211 Midways. I submit that these two names are the most boringly ordinary town names in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091.md?page=5)