# Strangely named places you've been to **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629 "2019-11-18T22:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/121 "2019-11-25T20:32:37Z")
I’ve been to Dead Monkey Ridge, Arizona, but not to Rotten Bananas Butte. They’re about 100 miles apart on the Navajo Reservation, so I don’t know if there’s any connection between them, but it’s nice to think there is. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/122 "2019-11-27T19:10:38Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I have been to **Weir** , (pronounced “Where”) Mississippi > > Could be part of an “Abbott and Costello” - esque bit. You could have an accident in Accident MD or a dent in Denton MD. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/123 "2019-11-27T22:29:01Z")
In northwest South Dakota there are two towns named Faith and Lemmon. This means that there’s a crossroads with a sign where an arrow to Faith points in one direction and the arrow to Lemmon points the other way. (Also, Lemmon is known for [the world’s largest petrified wood park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemmon_Petrified_Park), while Faith is [where](https://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/cities-towns/faith) “Sue”, the world’s most complete T-Rex skeleton, was dug up.) And a few miles down the road is Gettysburg South Dakota. Town motto: “Where the Battle Was Not”. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/124 "2019-11-27T22:52:01Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I’ve also driven past [Pasadena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasadena,_Maryland), [Hollywood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Maryland), and [California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California,_Maryland), all small towns near to each other in Maryland… Hollywood and California are adjacent, but Pasadena is 70 miles away in a different county. However, Scotland is just 18 miles south east of California. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/125 "2019-11-27T23:08:30Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > Germany has a number of place names that are funny in German. It also has UNIX car rental and a bus company called Fucker. You can tell who their drivers are; the ones with a permanent weary smile. What _ausfahrt_ do you take to get to it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/126 "2019-11-27T23:25:46Z")
When I lived in Paducah, Kentucky, I was literally between [Possum Trot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possum_Trot,_Kentucky) and [Monkey’s Eyebrow.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey%27s_Eyebrow,_Kentucky) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/127 "2019-11-28T03:04:23Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > . > > I’ve passed through Weed, California on the way to Oregon. It’s legal here now! And yes, businesses there sell souvenirs playing up the slang meaning of the town’s name. We spent the night in Weed too, also on our way to Oregon; we were moving there at the time. Except for having read _Of Mice And Men_, I hadn’t heard of Weed, CA. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/128 "2019-11-28T03:08:10Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Felch, MI. Do they have goats there? Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/129 "2019-11-28T03:14:37Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > Germany has a number of place names that are funny in German. It also has UNIX car rental and a bus company called Fucker. You can tell who their drivers are; the ones with a permanent weary smile. I rode through Igel (Hedgehog) between Trier and Luxemburg City. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/130 "2019-11-28T03:23:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > For a concisely redundant name, there’s also the city of Pueblo in Colorado, whose name simply means “town” in Spanish. Hey, maybe its founder was from Burgos (“borroughs” or “towns”). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/131 "2019-11-28T17:26:35Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Hey, maybe its founder was from Burgos (“borroughs” or “towns”). Regarding the word “pueblo”, which I assume originally meant “people” [of a city or town], does it retain any of that meaning at all in Spanish, or does it now simply mean “town”? Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/132 "2019-11-28T17:34:29Z")
Kokomo Indiana … a “onery” little town named after a "onery " local Indian chief in the early 1800s who according to family mythology had a daughter that one of the brothers that started the family line in america ran off to what would be niles michigan … and if you knew my family it would explain a lot … ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/133 "2019-11-28T19:51:44Z")
Not just been to, but actually lived in for six months: Culver City, CA–officially redundant as The City of Culver City. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [November 29, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/134 "2019-11-29T17:34:05Z")
I’ve been to Fast Eddy’s, a restaurant and motel in Tok, Alaska (pronounced ‘toke’). I bought a souvenir apron from the place. Also been to the town of Chicken, AK, which is 60 miles from Tok on the Taylor Highway to Canada. “Highway” is a grand title for what is essentially the worst potholed, washboarded dirt road in Alaska. It’s a former gold mining town that was initially going to be named 'Ptarmigan" because of the large number of the game birds in the area. However, nobody could agree on the spelling, so they settled for “Chicken”. I’ve also been to Buckshot Betty’s in Beaver Creek, YT. Then there’s Long Rifle Lodge & Restaurant on the Glenn Highway north of Anchorage. They have a sign that says “We have the right to arm bears!”, and an absolutely killer view of the Matanuska Glacier and valley from the dining area. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/135 "2019-11-29T17:48:37Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Been to Giggleswick 😃 > > Also been to Pennsylvania, Catbrain, and London Apprentice. All of which are in England and tiny. Since Pennsylvania was an invented name based on the name of its founder William Penn, was the town in England named after the colony in America? By Quakers, perhaps? Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/136 "2019-11-29T18:17:28Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Regarding the word “pueblo”, which I assume originally meant “people” [of a city or town], does it retain any of that meaning at all in Spanish, or does it now simply mean “town”? > > Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk Here in the southwest, “pueblo” is used by Native American communities that had their land granted to them in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago. > **[Pueblo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo)** > > Pueblo refers to the settlements and to the Native American tribes of the Pueblo peoples in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlements in the United States, are called pueblos (lowercased). > Spanish explorers of northern New Spain used the term pueblo to refer to permanent Indigenous towns they found in the region, mainly in New Mexico and parts of Arizona, in the former pro... > [@](#): > > Of the federally recognized Native American communities in the Southwest, those designated by the King of Spain as pueblo at the time Spain ceded territory to the United States, after the American Revolutionary War, are legally recognized as Pueblo by the Bureau of Indian Affairs… > There are 21 federally recognized Pueblos that are home to Pueblo peoples. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/137 "2019-12-02T03:58:12Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > … > > Backlick Road in Virginia… That’s quite near where I live! I frequently drive near Pope’s Head Road in the same county. Naturally we always call it Pope’s Nose Road. [How about _this_ intersection though.](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Furnace+Rd,+Lorton,+VA+22079/@38.6752247,-77.240711,17.81z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b654641618a753:0xa15edbd408ee83ba!8m2!3d38.685371!4d-77.237511). Proves Tolkein’s claim that you “can’t walk into Mordor” is a lie - hell, you can get there via Google Street View!! For those who’ve visited Intercourse, PA[you missed out on quite a bit of the experience](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Bird+in+Hand,+PA+17505/Intercourse,+Pennsylvania/Paradise,+Pennsylvania/@40.0249654,-76.1798622,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c63bfcef1fdfaf:0x5bbe80c609a0d044!2m2!1d-76.1821771!2d40.0387098!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c638ca947b9567:0xa9157e7cd574de6c!2m2!1d-76.1075043!2d40.0383787!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c6386a259fad6b:0x7eb079ccc0090ec3!2m2!1d-76.1285654!2d40.0098226!3e0) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/138 "2019-12-02T04:45:49Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > …[How about _this_ intersection though.](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Furnace+Rd,+Lorton,+VA+22079/@38.6752247,-77.240711,17.81z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b654641618a753:0xa15edbd408ee83ba!8m2!3d38.685371!4d-77.237511). Proves Tolkein’s claim that you “can’t walk into Mordor” is a lie - hell, you can get there via Google Street View!! > … [Er, I rescind my claim about getting there.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/truck-driver-electrocuted-in-fairfax-county-accident/2018/03/15/9a325444-2856-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html) :eek::eek::eek: (pretty horrifying, really; I got to that link while searching for the story of how the road was named). ---
**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 2, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/139 "2019-12-02T19:13:57Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Since Pennsylvania was an invented name based on the name of its founder William Penn, was the town in England named after the colony in America? By Quakers, perhaps? > > Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk I’m hardly an expert, I just drove through it a few times, which takes about 10 seconds a time, but [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania,_South_Gloucestershire)claims so. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/140 "2019-12-12T00:33:25Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I’m hardly an expert, I just drove through it a few times, which takes about 10 seconds a time, but [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania,_South_Gloucestershire)claims so. I forgot that Wikipedia has articles on just about everything! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629.md?page=8)