Looking for names of cities, towns, regions, etc. that describe what is/was there. The name may have come from something indicated on a map or someone’s observation of a map.
I’m pretty sure you Dopers have talked about this before, but I haven’t found any such threads, so here are a few ideas:
The Midway Atoll is so named because it’s halfway between North America and Asia.
White Sands was named for its gypsum dunefield.
Las Vegas means “the meadows” in Spanish.
Bald Knob, Arkansas was named for a prominent, treeless ridge of layered rock that served as a landmark to pioneers.
The English town of Bath was named for its Roman baths.
According to Wikipedia, Green Bay, Wisconsin was named by British fur traders in reference to the color of the water and the shore in early spring.
Deadwood, SD was named that because early settlers found dead trees in there.
Nearby Devil’s Tower was named so because, well you tell me what you would think upon seeing it.
And the Badlands in South Dakota are called that because they are just bad as all get out. No one in there right mind would try to go straight through them.
These just sprung to mind since I just went there on my way to Yellowstone last week. And Yellowstone is called that because the walls of the Yellowstone Canyon are actually yellow and the banks of the river further north in Montana are yellow.
Cape Fear is called that because an early English expedition found it frighteningly difficult to navigate and were afraid they would run aground and be stranded.
In the Cape Fear region is the city of Supply, North Carolina, which is called that because it was a center for producing naval supplies (mostly pine tar and pitch, which are abundantly available in the local pine forests and were vital supplies in the age of wooden sailing ships).
And off-topic, but I work in logistics for a lab company, and am involved in providing supplies to clients, a few of whom are in Supply, and to our patient service centers, one of which was until very recently in Supply. I’ve had a few “Who’s on first”-like conversations with other folks in logistics who aren’t familiar with the area about sending supplies to Supply.
Kettle Moraine State Forest was named for all the kettles and moraines (along with the drumlins, eskers, kames, and more features) left behind by glaciers.
Okay, but that name seems to have come about through speculation and a questionable translation. I’m more interested in names that refer to something that we “know” is/was there. All posts are welcome, though. I got the information for my suggestions from Wikipedia, so it’s okay if the sources aren’t perfectly credible, but I would like to see a direct relationship.
For example, I didn’t mention a place and a river in Texas called Lllano, which means flat or plain in Spanish. The translation may be accurate, but I don’t know of any source that claims they were named for the local geography (seems likely, though).
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It means “The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio’s of the red cave,”
It was created in the mid-1800s largely for promotional reasons, so its railway station would have the longest sign in the country.
The name of De Pere, Wisconsin (just south of Green Bay) is a shortened version of its original name: “Rapides des Peres” (“Rapids of the Fathers” in French). It is the site of a series of rapids (now dammed) on the Fox River, and Father Claude-Jean Allouez (one of the first European explorers and missionaries of the area) established a Jesuit mission on the shoreline there in 1671.
For that reason, I was going to question its relevance here, but the Wiki entry says one of the town’s first names was Pwllgwyngyll, which means “the pool of the white hazels.” So, good one!
Sorry, but I have to ask: Did you copy and paste that name? I checked the spelling in your post against that of the Wiki entry by copying and pasting (they match perfectly). Interestingly, when either is pasted without format in a Word document, the name is broken down into parts separated by hyphens that don’t appear in the formatted text, like this:
Point No Point is so named because while it is an actual point (sticking out into the water) it’s hard to tell it’s a point, close up. Has a lighthouse on it.
Useless Bay is so named because its opening faces south, the direction that storm winds come from (so much for shelter in a storm).
I checked the spelling in your post against that of the Wiki entry by copying and pasting (they match perfectly). Interestingly, when either is pasted without format in a Word document, the name is broken down into parts separated by hyphens that don’t appear in the formatted text, like this: