# Something strange about a town you know **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 17, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588 "2019-11-17T22:06:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/21 "2019-11-18T17:16:36Z")
While it was being built, Gypsy’s Shiny Diner was cited for being “too shiny”. The compromise was to have 3 foot (1 meter) plantings in front of it. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/22 "2019-11-18T17:21:41Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > YUCK! I know, right? 😃 > [@mixdenny](#): > > I wonder where Trojan condoms are made? They could have a wall of, ummmm, well… > > Dennis And I thought gum was about as gross as it could get… I yield in pensive defeat. > [@nelliebly](#): > > OK, here’s one. There’s a town called Havre in central Montana, about 40 miles from the Canadian border. There’s a little town under the streets of the actual town. It started at the turn of the 20th century when fire destroyed the town and merchants moved underground during construction. During the 1920’s, the underground was used to stockpile bootlegged hooch from over the boarder. There was a bordello, shops, and at least one opium den. Excellent choice!! Embarrassingly, I know about this one due to family history. My grandparents owned a sizeable wheat farm/sheep ranch north of Havre, and it was entirely due to their illegally-distilled liquor transported from Medicine Hat into Havre. When the depression hit, they used their ill-gotten gains to buy up their thousands of acres of land. I lived there for a couple of years in the early 80s and still have family in the area. Thanks for the reminder, as it had all slipped my mind! > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > That is truly appalling. _Exactly_ the sort of thing I was hoping for. Thank you. > > j You are ever welcome. 🙂 People should know. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/23 "2019-11-18T17:28:05Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’ll ask… > What would be scary about being the only dentist in the area? And, what does grouping them together protect them from? … I don’t know. But it’s starting to affect [Opticians](http://www.burgesshilluncovered.co.uk/news/2017-06-28-vision-express-relocation.html) in Burgess Hill as well. > [@Zyada](#): > > …Hotelling’s Law - mentioned in the [Coincidentally aptly named scientific phenomena, laws or equations](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=879868) because it happens to hotels. Or it could be this. j ---
**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:** [November 18, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/24 "2019-11-18T17:46:21Z")
There’s a little town in the Sierra Nevada foothills called Cool, CA. There is apparently no clear historical record as to the origin of the town’s name. Some claim it was named by the beatnik Todd Hausman, but I doubt that story. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/25 "2019-11-18T17:59:22Z")
Every Valentine’s Day, the town of Kissimmee, FL has a huge influx of mailings. The name is actually pronounced Kiss IM mee but apparently people think it’s cute to have the postmark that looks kind of like “kiss me”. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/26 "2019-11-18T18:10:33Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I’ve never quite gotten the allure of [Bubble Gum Alley](https://californiathroughmylens.com/bubblegum-alley-gum-wall-san-luis-obispo) in San Luis Obispo, California, but there it is. Folks have been contributing to its, ummm, art medium for more than 40 years. > > We can probably agree it is a distinguishing feature of the town. Seattle also has one of these nasty gum alleys. The Seattle version is right by Pike Place Market. [Gum Wall - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_Wall) > [@nelliebly](#): > > OK, here’s one. There’s a town called Havre in central Montana, about 40 miles from the Canadian border. There’s a little town under the streets of the actual town. It started at the turn of the 20th century when fire destroyed the town and merchants moved underground during construction. During the 1920’s, the underground was used to stockpile bootlegged hooch from over the boarder. There was a bordello, shops, and at least one opium den. Again, Seattle also has a similar underground city. However, it became underground because the city built up and raised the road grade. It also was used for speakeasies, opium dens and other cool activities. It’s found below a few blocks in Pioneer Square. [Seattle Underground - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/27 "2019-11-18T18:24:22Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > For my contribution, the small towns in E. Texas called [Sacul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacul,_Texas) and [Reklaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reklaw,_Texas). > > Aww, checking wikipedia says my original story was wrong, but in both of these cases, they wanted to name the town after someone - the Lucas family in the first case, and Alice Walker, in the second - but there were already towns with those names. > > So they just reversed the names and ran with that. > > (the original story had a person name Lucas Walker founding 4 different towns. Easy story to believe, because the towns are 5 miles apart. Or would that make it harder to believe?) Reversing a word or name to come up with a town name is actually not that uncommon. There’s even a Wiki-list for them: [List of geographic anagrams and ananyms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geographic_anagrams_and_ananyms), compiled by yours truly. And that’s probably not all of them. There’s other candidates, but those are the ones I could find a reference for. (Ananym is an obscure word meaning a word or name spelled backwards. I hadn’t heard of it until I found the [Wikipage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananym) on them, but since that word was already in use on Wikipedia, I went with it.) ---
**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:** [November 18, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/28 "2019-11-18T18:26:21Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Again, Seattle also has a similar underground city. However, it became underground because the city built up and raised the road grade. It also was used for speakeasies, opium dens and other cool activities. It’s found below a few blocks in Pioneer Square. [Seattle Underground - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground) Sacramento has a similar underground. The city was built on low lying land next to the river that was prone to flooding, a rather bad location for a city but a good spot for selling supplies to gold miners sailing up the river. Later when city leaders realized the constant flooding was a problem they raised the street level, so the former first floors became the basements. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/29 "2019-11-18T18:31:47Z")
I once visited the town of Accident, Maryland. On purpose. The residents are known as “Accidentals.” Somewhat nearby me is Parole, Maryland. I don’t know if the residents there are known as “Parolees,” but they should be. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/30 "2019-11-18T20:01:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I once visited the town of Accident, Maryland. On purpose. The residents are known as “Accidentals.” > > Somewhat nearby me is Parole, Maryland. I don’t know if the residents there are known as “Parolees,” but they should be. There’s also a place named Boring in Maryland, although it’s much smaller than the town in Oregon with the same name. A few years ago, [Boring OR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boring,_Oregon#Name_and_municipality_pairings) became sister cities with Dull, Scotland. They later added Bland Shire in New South Wales to their “League of [del]Extraordinary[/del] Mundane Cities”. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/31 "2019-11-18T20:12:34Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > There’s also a place named Boring in Maryland, although it’s much smaller than the town in Oregon with the same name. A few years ago, [Boring OR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boring,_Oregon#Name_and_municipality_pairings) became sister cities with Dull, Scotland. They later added Bland Shire in New South Wales to their “League of [del]Extraordinary[/del] Mundane Cities”. Quick! Somebody immigrate to France and establish a town called Blasé ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/32 "2019-11-18T20:36:03Z")
Santa, Rosa, California. Back in the 80s there was a woman there named [Pepper](https://voicesftheart.blogspot.com/2011/09/pepper-my-hometowns-character.html). She was the official town character. I met her a number of times on the bus, and she accused a friend of mine of having parents who were lizards. One of the ways she got around town was to walk up to a car stopped at a stop light, get in, and ask to be be taken somewhere. It happened to a classmate’s wife. I asked “What did she do?” He replied, “She didn’t know what else to do, so she drove her.” Fun times. Sadly, she’s gone now, but I’m glad she got a good send off. She deserved it. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/33 "2019-11-18T20:52:53Z")
The website [Roadside America](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/) is a great place to find these sorts of oddball landmarks. Sacramento has a memorial to Senator Capitol Kitty, a stray cat who lived on the capitol grounds from 1991 to 2004 according to the dates on the memorial. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/34 "2019-11-20T11:03:00Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hot Springs, Arkansas has had a very storied existence. For one thing the hot springs were turned into bath-houses. Claimed to cure all manner of ailments. > There were gambling casinos resulting in gangsters appearing. They got shut down. The horse racing carried on even though “gambling” was not really legal. They had special permissions. > There were many years of corrupt City government. Shoot outs in the streets. > Crazy place. It’s still a fun place to visit. > I’ve spent many happy hours there. Just got back from Hot Springs yesterday, visiting relatives. Said relatives decided to retire there several years ago and bought a very old house. Rumors were it had belonged to a Chicago crime family who built it with cash (as in stacks of bills) in the '40s. When they remodeled it, the contractor found the front walls facing the street were unusually thick. Turns out the entire front of the house was interleaved concrete and steel layers. It wasn’t just bulletproof, it was high-caliber rifle proof. Another odd Hot Springs fact I learned while there. There’s a small river running thru town, and it is partially routed through an underground tunnel. The german restaurant [Steinhaus](http://www.steinhauskeller.com/) has a basement dining area for which one wall is actually the outside of the tunnel. According to the waitstaff, there is a flowing river just six inches away from the booths on one side. I though that was weird. Disclaimer: Just hearsay from waiters – don’t know if it’s really true. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/35 "2019-11-20T11:35:52Z")
Washington Arkansas was the temporary capital of Arkansas during the civil war. Little Rock was under military occupation and the capital had to be relocated. James Black’s blacksmith shop is located in Washington and it’s where the first Bowie knife was made. They have tours of historic Washington. My 4th grade class went there and had a great time. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/36 "2019-11-20T15:10:05Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > While it was being built, Gypsy’s Shiny Diner was cited for being “too shiny”. The compromise was to have 3 foot (1 meter) plantings in front of it. If being purely vanilla qualified as strange, Cary would win hands down. They have legions of city ordinances forbidding any building from standing out in appearance. McDonalds can’t show the golden arches because the gold is considered too bright. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588/37 "2019-11-20T18:24:45Z")
In my home town of Castleford we have the honour of world renowned Sculptor and artist Henry Moore as its most famous son. Naturally his home and birthplace have been suitably marked https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211styUbgnFUqUqCrlH7QNvi_A%212m2%211d53.7200991%212d-1.3531675%213f180.63%214f7.954%215f0.9 What might be less well known is that patch of ground had a block of terrace housing on it, but it made the corner quite tight for our local garbage vehicles to reverse around it - so in keeping with such an honour the lot was demolished, after all we have world renowned individuals all over Castleford - not [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-about-a-town-you-know/843588.md?page=1)