# Descriptive place names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2021, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264 "2021-09-24T11:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/21 "2021-09-24T17:50:36Z")
Good one, and my ignorance has been fought (it’ll be back), because I thought Puget Sound was on the East Coast. Good replies from all. Keep 'em coming! ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/22 "2021-09-24T18:23:43Z")
Don’t get me started on Lake Titicaca. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/23 "2021-09-24T20:25:34Z")
La Crosse, Wisconsin was built on a field where the Native Americans played that sport. The town of Wisconsin Rapids is pretty much what the name says – it’s located on a rapid on the Wisconsin River. Marshfield, Wisconsin is a former marsh, which was drained by the early settlers so it could be used as a field for agriculture. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/24 "2021-09-24T20:29:03Z")
Cold Spring Harbor, NY is where a cold freshwater spring flows into a natural harbor. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/25 "2021-09-24T20:41:42Z")
Boron, California is named for the nearby boron mine, the raw material for borax. While looking for Boron on Google Maps I noticed a place called Reefer City. No, it’s not what you think. It’s another old mining town. The mining company purchased refrigerator cars, known colloquially as “reefers”, to house the miners. It is a ghost town now but still appears on Google Maps. And speaking of mining towns, Val-des-Sources, Quebec was called Asbestos until last year. It should be obvious what they mined there. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/26 "2021-09-24T20:52:33Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > The English town of **Bath** was named for its Roman baths. Los Baños, California, was named for a spring in the area. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/27 "2021-09-24T21:17:58Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > Sorry, but I have to ask: Did you copy and paste that name? Of course, but not from Wikipedia. It was a Welsh tourist site. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/28 "2021-09-24T22:02:14Z")
Oakland, CA, was named for oak groves that used to be there. Contra Costa County, CA, means “opposite coast”, meaning the East side of SF Bay. Half Moon Bay, CA, is on a bay with that shape. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/29 "2021-09-24T22:07:34Z")
My Wife and I live on the the continental divide. More than a mile above Denver. We often just say we are going down, or coming back up. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/30 "2021-09-25T00:28:10Z")
Antelope Valley, CA had plenty of pronghorn until they were killed off. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/31 "2021-09-25T16:19:29Z")
Although most of you probably know this, it’s worth mentioning that the names of several US states were borrowed from Spanish: Nevada, Colorado, Montana and Florida are derived from the Spanish words for snowy, reddish, mountain (_montaña_) and flowery, respectively. Florida is also a reference to _Pascua Florida_, which I think is a very old name for the Easter holidays, as the discoverer’s landfall took place around that time. In any case, that specific use of _florida_ still means flowery. Although Texas sure as hell looks like it comes from _tejas_ (roof tiles) and you’d think that all that sun, heat and dry air would be ideal for making tiles, it turns out that it derives from the indigenous word _táyshaʼ_, which means friend. The state name is even spelled _Tejas_ in Spanish. I was certain it would be one of those “map markings” that end up being the official name. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/32 "2021-09-25T16:58:07Z")
The names of small settlements and geographical features in Scotland can be remarkably unimaginative and repetitive. There are any number of hills and mountains whose name in Gaelic translates as big hill, red hill, yellow hill, speckled hill, small hill, snowy hill, windy hill, black hill, big snowy hill, little snowy hill… The name of the city of **Derry** in Northern Ireland means “oak grove”, there are also Derrys in Scotland that mean the same thing. **Gairloch** means “short loch”, with loch in this case meaning an arm of the sea. Inland, there are countless black lochs, also green lochs, small lochs… I’ve just found a “small loch of the island hill oak grove”. Another Celtic language in Scotland, Pictish, gives us **Perth** , which means a wood or a copse. **Wick** is the Norse/Viking word for “bay”, along with the several places in Scotland called **Uig** , which is the Gaelic spelling of the same word. These are just the tip of the iceberg for literal placenames in Scotland. Ireland has some similar names, for example, **Dublin** means black pool, as does the significantly smaller place in County Clare, **Doolin**. England has some obvious ones like **Oxford** or **Bradford** (“broad ford”) but for small settlements I think the Saxons and Danes were more likely to use personal names in placenames than the Celts. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/33 "2021-09-25T16:58:17Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > **Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch.** Very cool. In Massachusetts, Lake **Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maug** g has the longest name of any geographic feature in all of the United States. For short, it is Lake Chaubunagungamaug, or Webster Lake. In Florida, there is **Yeehaw Junction**. In Missouri, there is **Braggadocio**. I’ve been to all 3. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/34 "2021-09-25T17:05:23Z")
As most Chicagoans know, the city’s name comes from the Miami-Illinois word _shikaakwa_, which was their word for a “wild onion,” or ramp, a plant which grew abundantly in the area. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/35 "2021-09-25T17:38:16Z")
You can hardly get a more descriptive place name than Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Alberta (website URL: headsmashedin.ca), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Blackfoot Indians used to hunt buffalo by driving them over a cliff at that site, where the buffalo would, well, get their heads smashed in. > **[Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site](https://headsmashedin.ca/)** > > Where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains sits one of the world’s largest, oldest, and best-preserved buffalo jumps. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/36 "2021-09-25T17:56:46Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > In Florida, there is **Yeehaw Junction**. > > In Missouri, there is **Braggadocio**. Okay, but do they describe something that is/was there? > [@wolfpup](#): > > The Blackfoot Indians used to hunt buffalo by driving them over a cliff at that site, where the buffalo would, well, get their heads smashed in. Yikes. Similarly, although less graphically, there’s a place in Spain called Despeñaperros that you might translate as “the place where people go to throw dogs off a cliff.” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/37 "2021-09-25T18:11:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The Blackfoot Indians used to hunt buffalo by driving them over a cliff at that site, where the buffalo would, well, get their heads smashed in. My understanding, based on reading the highly authoritative Dave Barry 😃 is that the “Head-Smashed-In” part of the name came from a young Blackfoot who wanted to watch this happen from the bottom of the cliff. He was buried under the buffalo who fell from the cliff, and when he was found, he was dead, his head having been smashed in. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/38 "2021-09-25T18:18:36Z")
I’d forgotten about the Dave Barry theory, and just assumed that we owe the beautiful name of the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump to the fact that the Blackfoots apparently liked to name places in a straightforward manner – none of that fancy euphemistic stuff for them. If the buffalo got their heads smashed in, then by golly, that’s what the place should be called. In any case, they leave us with the legacy today wherein, as reported by Dave Barry, when you call the tourist information line, it is answered with a cheerful “Head smashed in, how can I help you?”. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/39 "2021-09-25T18:22:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > In any case, they leave us with the legacy today wherein, as reported by Dave Barry, when you call the tourist information line, it is answered with a cheerful “Head smashed in, how can I help you?”. When I was at my first job, in the '90s, my administrative assistant was a big Dave Barry fan (as was I), and the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump article was one of our favorites. For a while, if I called her on the phone, and she saw it was me from the caller ID, she’s answer the phone that way. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264/40 "2021-09-25T19:13:41Z")
Fall River, Massachusetts was named after the series of waterfalls created by the Quequechan River as it dropped into Mount Hope Bay. They buried the river under Interstate 195 in the 1960s. The Braga Bridge (195 over the Taunton River) makes landfall onto the cliff that used to be part of the waterfall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-place-names/951264.md?page=3)