# Little-known things about your city or state **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723 "2016-03-12T06:35:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/21 "2016-03-13T04:48:36Z")
Half of the presidents to die in office were from Ohio. Oberlin College, founded in 1833, was the first college in the United States to admit women. Only two zoos outside of Florida have manatees, both in Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/22 "2016-03-13T05:19:33Z")
The first successful (as in “the patient left the hospital alive”) appendectomy was performed in Davenport, Iowa in the 1880s. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/23 "2016-03-13T05:31:54Z")
Flooding was so common in Sacramento, California that in 1873, the entire city’s downtown was raised one entire story. What had originally been the first floor of every downtown building became the basement, and the second stories became the ground floors. You can still visit [Sacramento Underground](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sacramento_State_Historic_Park#Old_Sacramento_Underground). The original California state grizzly bear flag was designed by William Todd, the nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/24 "2016-03-13T05:38:45Z")
About 40 miles south of here is the town of Quantico, VA: surrounded by Marines on three sides and the Potomac on the fourth. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/25 "2016-03-13T06:00:16Z")
You can go hiking in the snow [just fifteen miles from downtown L.A.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN_Ngbc7YU8) at times in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/26 "2016-03-13T12:43:33Z")
The first newspaper in the United States dedicated to the abolition of slavery was _[Manumission Intelligencer](http://diglib.lib.utk.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=emn)_, published in [Jonesborough, Tennessee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonesborough,_Tennessee). It continued publishing as [The Emancipator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emancipator). Jonesborough is also the oldest town in what is now Tennessee. For a time it was the capital of the short lived [State of Franklin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Franklin) movement, which never achieved statehood in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/27 "2016-03-13T14:04:00Z")
Kansas City came within a hair’s breadth of being named Possum Trot. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/28 "2016-03-13T14:35:16Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Montpelier, VT is the only state capitol without a McDonald’s. I bet you would do well on Jeopardy. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/29 "2016-03-13T18:59:12Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Flooding was so common in Sacramento, California that in 1873, the entire city’s downtown was raised one entire story. What had originally been the first floor of every downtown building became the basement, and the second stories became the ground floors. You can still visit [Sacramento Underground](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sacramento_State_Historic_Park#Old_Sacramento_Underground). > > The original California state grizzly bear flag was designed by William Todd, the nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln. I was reading a biography on Grizzly Adams (John “Grizzly” Adams - the man the movie and TV show is based upon) and it said that his bear Sampson was the bear used on the state flag, or more specifically Charles Nahl’s painting of Sampson was transposed onto the state flag. [http://www.grizzlyadams.com/the-real-story](http://www.grizzlyadams.com/the-real-story) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/30 "2016-03-13T19:03:10Z")
Suffolk, Virginia, is home to both a Planters Peanuts plant and a Lipton Iced Tea headquarters. On some days, you can smell the delightful aroma of roasted peanuts throughout downtown. I much prefer it to the nearby city of Franklin, which has a paper mill. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/31 "2016-03-13T20:37:12Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Montpelier, VT is the only state capitol without a McDonald’s. I’m pretty certain that most state capitols don’t have a McDonalds inside, or as part of the building in any other way. Now if you’re talking about state capit **a** ls…yes, I can pick nits with the best of them. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/32 "2016-03-13T20:40:05Z")
Chesapeake Beach, MD, where I live, has become just one more bedroom suburb of the Washington, DC megalopolis. But 25 years or so ago, it used to be a big biker town. And way back before that, before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was built, it used to be a summer resort destination for people living in DC, and you could take the train out here. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/33 "2016-03-13T21:45:09Z")
Maine is bigger than New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut combined. The largest county, Aroostook County, is larger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Maine’s forests cover 86% of the state, a higher percentage than any other state. There are several towns in northernmost Maine where French is more widely spoken than English, including the appropriately named Frenchville. The northernmost settlement in Maine, Estcourt Station, can’t be reached by public road from the rest of the state. There are several houses there, built before a good survey was made, that are crossed by the International Boundary with Canada. Maine was the site of the first English settlement in the Northeast at Popham Beach in 1607. The colony was abandoned the next year. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/34 "2016-03-13T22:40:06Z")
There is a street in Portland named " **Couch St."** Most people who are not locals don’t know that it’s pronounced _Kooch_. And this is why: [John H. Couch - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_H._Couch) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/35 "2016-03-13T23:20:20Z")
My town/small city of Franklin, MA was named after Benjamin Franklin because he donated a collection of books to the town to become the first public library in the U.S. The town library still has them as a historical collection. It is also one of the safest places in the U.S. in terms of crime. It was #1 most crime free a couple of years ago and #4 this year. I could kick the kids that took the bicycles for a joyride to drive the crime stats up but that could result in an additional assault charge on our report card. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/36 "2016-03-14T00:05:32Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > My wife partly grew up in Salem, NJ. The Salem river reverses direction at high tide. The Hudson River does the same–for _134_ miles, from the mouth at New York City to the Troy Dam. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/37 "2016-03-14T00:13:24Z")
Think you’ve got a big basket? Well, the [world’s largest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longaberger_Company#/media/File:Newark-ohio-longaberger-headquarters-front.jpg) is in Newark, Ohio. It’s seven stories high, and is the home of the Longaberger Basket Company. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/38 "2016-03-14T03:39:27Z")
The crescent in the South Carolina State Flag was originally meant to represent a [gorget](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorget), not a crescent moon. However, it has undergone several design modifications, and it’s not clear whether the last designer intended it to be viewed as a crescent moon or a gorget. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/39 "2016-03-14T03:51:25Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It’s seven stories high, and is the home of the Longaberger Basket Company. They’re trying to sell, it though, to avoid it being seized for back property taxes. I’m not sure that there’s a big market for giant basket-shaped buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723/40 "2016-03-14T07:39:27Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > There is a street in Portland named " **Couch St."** Most people who are not locals don’t know that it’s pronounced _Kooch_. And this is why: [John H. Couch - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_H._Couch) My hometown of Toronto has more than a few streets that are not pronounced as they are spelled: Strachan Avenue: “Strawn.” Yonge Street: “Young.” Baby Point Road: “Bobby Point” Bloor Street: “Blue-er” Then there are the roads that take an article, that you’ll never see noted as such on a map: Danforth Avenue: “The Danforth.” Lakeshore Boulevard: “The Lakeshore.” Esplanade (street? avenue? road? nobody quite knows): “The Esplanade.” And the Toronto street that confuses everybody: Avenue Road. Is it an avenue? Is it a road? You might find understanding if you give an address of “2221 Yonge,” but you’ll never get away with an address of “1975 Avenue.” It has to be “1975 Avenue Road.” As well as the name of the city itself. Native-born Torontonians will call it “Taronna,” or in more formal situations, “Torondo.” Only non-Torontonians will ever pronounce the second T–which make us Torontonians laugh when American sportscasters are broadcasting an event from Toronto: "Here we are in Toron **T** o for the Blue Jays game… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-things-about-your-city-or-state/748723.md?page=3)