# Places that became tourist attractions for one reason **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998 "2021-12-13T18:15:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/81 "2021-12-14T15:51:32Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > For some reason I can’t stop mentally looping back to a scene in the book “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman. There’s a spot in KS that someone tried to make into a tourist spot because by one definition it was the geographic center of the US. But nobody came, and the place was largely forgotten. > > But the gods in this book consider it a holy gathering place. Which is a little strange, because these gods exist only because there’s someone out there who believes in them. So why they’d choose a spot nobody believes in, is a little confusing, in retrospect. (I should reread the book.) The scene in _American Gods_ that takes place there is a meeting, under truce, between two groups of warring gods. They deliberately chose it because it _wasn’t_ a holy place. Fits in with the novel’s theme that America isn’t a good place for gods. > [@SanVito](#): > > I also endorse the vote for Salem - the witches are the only reason I took a detour there. When I visited Salem, I had expected it to be a quaint New England village, _a la_ Marblehead or Gloucester. I was surprised to find it was a small but vibrant city. Very nice, but didn’t match the picture in my head at all. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/82 "2021-12-14T16:20:48Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > When I visited Salem, I had expected it to be a quaint New England village, _a la_ Marblehead or Gloucester. I was surprised to find it was a small but vibrant city. Very nice, but didn’t match the picture in my head at all. Oh, I thought it _was_ a village, or at least a small town. I obviously missed most of it! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/83 "2021-12-14T16:42:05Z")
Bethlehem? ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/84 "2021-12-14T16:49:38Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Oh, I think Pisa is a fair shout. Being in Tuscany, it’s surrounded by FAR prettier and more architecturally significant towns and cities - the main reason to go to Pisa (minus the tower) is for the airport, as it’s the main international gateway to Tuscany. Literally the only reason tourists stop off in Pisa is to go to the tower - often while they’re killing time for a flight - and most never actually make it into the city centre, as the tower (and accompanying cathedral) are on the edge of town. That’s not entirely fair. Much of the city centre was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944 and its other great cultural attraction, the frescos of the Camposanto, were wrecked. But its fame as a tourist destination was already so well-established that tourists continued to visit, unaware that it was no longer quite what had previously been so celebrated. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/85 "2021-12-14T17:01:47Z")
Forks, Washington. Just a small town on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. No one ever went there on purpose till it was the “setting” for the Twilight movies. The movies were actually filmed in Oregon, the only scene filmed in Washington was a restaurant in Port Angeles. It was enough of an attraction to see a couple new hotels built. Been through there a few times, it seems the Twilight fascination is started to fade. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/86 "2021-12-14T19:59:19Z")
Yeah, came here to say, “And boy, are they surprised when they find they’re in the wrong province!” ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/87 "2021-12-14T23:00:48Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > …Something interesting happened. Maybe somebody from there became famous. Maybe a best-selling book or series of books took place there or was the inspiration… Maybe Palmyra, New York. According to Mormons, God appeared to Joseph Smith (which is interesting). He became famous. There is a best selling book, The Book of Mormon. And people (mainly Mormons) visit from around the world. And does Mecca fit the criteria? ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/88 "2021-12-15T11:46:05Z")
I figure Luckenbach, Texas wouldn’t be popular without Waylon (and maybe Willie). Jackson Browne mentioned a particular corner in Winslow Arizona that seems well known now. Also, I actually stopped to visit Benson Arizona because of the song in John Carpenter’s [movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Star_(film)). Nothing but trailer parks, but I took a picture anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/89 "2021-12-15T11:54:55Z")
There’s a small unmarked grave in Yeadon, PA that contains the body of _Devil in the White City_ serial killer H. H. Holmes. They’ve had to move the body several times due to people trying to dig him up. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/90 "2021-12-15T12:58:27Z")
I’m wondering if [Glastonbury](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury) would count- I mean, it _claims_ that it was a centre for pilgrimages and whatnot for centuries, but there’s very little evidence for it actually being all that well known outside the area until the nearby festival named for it started. Now it’s heaving with tourists in a normal summer. Although the tor is a visible obvious attraction- it really does stand out in the landscape- it’s a nice landmark, but not something worth visiting from any distance. I’m pretty sure most of the stories attached to it are of recent invention by people whose mystical revelation of same was courtesy of LSD at the festival. Many of them then decided to stay in the area, turning it into the entertaining place it is today. To US eyes I’m sure the all the historical stuff would seem like it should have been a draw, but you can barely go for a walk anywhere in the area without tripping over a bronze-age settlement. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/91 "2021-12-15T14:22:08Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I’m wondering if [Glastonbury](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury) would count- I mean, it _claims_ that it was a centre for pilgrimages and whatnot for centuries, but there’s very little evidence for it actually being all that well known outside the area until the nearby festival named for it started. Now it’s heaving with tourists in a normal summer. Oh I don’t know - I don’t think most of the woo crazies who live and visit Glastonbury on a day out go there because of the music festival (which isn’t actually in Glastonbury). I think they go there to find Merlin. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/92 "2021-12-15T14:41:25Z")
Yeah, but I think they only go to that town because the people who took LSD at the festival 40 years ago said they saw Merlin there, and stayed… Prior to the festival, it seems to have been pretty much just another twee little town, with a funky hill and some nice ruins. I mean, the little village I lived in up North had an ancient church and loads of weird local legends, but no-one outside the area cares- my theory is that Glastonbury only got its local legends spread wider due to the mass of people taking psychodelics at the festival of the same name. It’s now great fun to visit- I recommend playing spot-the-wizard on the high street, and the parish magazine is simply joyous, but would the assorted crazies-in-residence have picked that spot to be weird in if it wasn’t for the festival? I doubt it. A more clear-cut example of the same effect is [Nimbin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimbin,_New_South_Wales), in Australia; they had one festival, in 1973, and a bunch of hippies basically came to that and got so stoned they didn’t bother going home. Now the place is a tourist attraction, holds events, and is also an interesting place to visit, but it certainly wouldn’t have been like that if it wasn’t for the [Aquarius festival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarius_Festival), even if that was a one-off, and most of the current residents arrived long after. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/93 "2021-12-15T15:20:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Lexington and Concord for kicking off the American Revolution. Yup. “By the rude bridge that arched the flood” and all that. And as later noted, Concord also has Walden Pond where Thoreau hung out a couple of years. But I think there’s even more tourism due to Louisa May Alcott’s home/the setting of “Little Women.” Does having SEVERAL independent claims for tourist attraction disqualify by your rules? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/94 "2021-12-15T15:56:57Z")
The small town of Pepin, WI gets some tourism because Laura Ingalls Wilder was born just a few miles from there. The original cabin is gone, but a replica was built. I only know this because we camped at the RV park in Pepin for several weeks. Manassas, VA draws Civil War buffs because of the two Battles of Bull Run. My great grandfather was captured at the second battle, but at least wasn’t one of the 15,000 men killed there. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/95 "2021-12-15T16:04:36Z")
Thought of another. Wallace, Idaho. [People stop to look at a manhole cover.](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/center-of-the-universe) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/96 "2021-12-15T16:07:04Z")
Once every year or two we visit the nearby small town of Smicksburg, PA. It is a tourist attraction because of the Amish living there. Non-Amish folks run restaurants, stores, etc featuring Amish things like shoo-fly pie. We always have an enjoyable day there. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/97 "2021-12-15T16:10:19Z")
Maybe Loch Ness? (I don’t really know if there are other reasons to go there besides looking for a sea monster) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/98 "2021-12-15T16:12:31Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > a particular corner in Winslow Arizona that seems well known now. A few years ago I received a postcard from Winslow, sent by a friend who had cancer and chose to travel instead of fighting his disease. After the postcard I received a souvenir spoon from Graceland, then a short time later a note from his wife that their journey was over. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/99 "2021-12-15T16:23:43Z")
> [@Skunkdog](#): > > There’s a small unmarked grave in Yeadon, PA that contains the body of _Devil in the White City_ serial killer H. H. Holmes. They’ve had to move the body several times due to people trying to dig him up. Sort of like [a certain house on Long Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amityville_Horror_(1979_film)) getting [an exterior remodel](https://youtu.be/5CaUd10_mSE) in an attempt to not attract so many tourists. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/100 "2021-12-15T16:30:01Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Maybe Loch Ness? It’s actually a huge and glorious [sea water lak](https://www.google.com/search?q=loch+ness+water+sports&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB976GB976&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiU84b9nOb0AhXEmFwKHeWTBCwQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=2048&bih=1008&dpr=2)e, so very popular with tourers, campers and water sports enthusiasts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998.md?page=6)