# What or who is your state known for? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518 "2015-08-11T03:21:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Kimbosquee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@Kimbosquee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimbosquee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/81 "2015-08-12T18:56:30Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > California is known for Hollywood, beaches, plastic surgery, Yosemite, and earthquakes Besides earthquakes, people also tend to bring up wildfires, landslides, and floods. Talk about negativity. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/82 "2015-08-12T19:25:10Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Colorado seems to be almost entirely mountains in the public mind. Not counting the pancake-flat eastern half, of course. I could never figure out why Colorado does that. The other Rocky states – Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas – all have topographical texture east of the front, but Colorado just lies down flat. Flatter even than Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/83 "2015-08-12T20:03:40Z")
nm ---
**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:** [August 12, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/84 "2015-08-12T20:20:36Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Funny, as an outsider, I’d say Philly, Pitt, and not much else. Maybe William Penn and Quaker Oats. I used to work for Quaker Oats. The brand has no actual connection to Pennsylvania; it’s been headquartered in Chicago since 1901 (and was the result of a merger of several grain mills, none of which were from PA). The company chose [Quaker as its brand name / mascot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_Oats_Company#The_.27Quaker_man.27_logo_and_Quakers) due to the Quakers’ reputation for “honesty, integrity, purity and strength” (though it also looks like, early on, they specifically labeled the “Quaker Man” as William Penn). ---
**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:** [August 12, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/85 "2015-08-12T20:25:07Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I’m from Wisconsin. > > I’d prefer for the rest of you to tell me what we’re known for, other than cheese. As already noted, beer. I suspect that the Packers would wind up on that list, as well as a few infamous residents (Joseph McCarthy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer). (I’m from Wisconsin, too; my sister briefly worked with Dahmer, a few months before his arrest. :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/86 "2015-08-13T16:36:47Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Detroit itself is hard to ignore when Michigan comes up. A good part of that is Motown music. A bad part is Kid Rock. Another bad part is ex-mayor (and federal prisoner) Kwame Kilpatrick, who was in the news incessantly until his federal conviction just a couple of years ago. Absolutely. Detroit is coming back- everything from software developers to watchmaking (Shinola says Switzerland is the Detroit of watchmaking). The Ilitches have done a lot of great things and the new hockey arena is going to be absolutely stunning. Light rail is coming, as is a new international crossing (Gordie Howe Bridge). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/87 "2015-08-13T16:45:42Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Shinola says Switzerland is the Detroit of watchmaking Yeah, but they don’t know from shit. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/88 "2015-08-13T16:47:35Z")
Massachusetts-political corruption. Where the last 3 speakers of the House have gone to jail (the current one will probably follow). Where the Big Dig (Central artery Project) was supposed to cost $2 billion, now $22 billion. A Democratic run state, run by crooks. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/89 "2015-08-13T17:09:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Massachusetts-political corruption. Where the last 3 speakers of the House have gone to jail (the current one will probably follow). Where the Big Dig (Central artery Project) was supposed to cost $2 billion, now $22 billion. A Democratic run state, run by crooks. I think that might just be you. Everyone that isn’t you probably thinks of Massachussets and thinks of the Kennedy family, high taxes, fabulous schools, Boston cream pie and Cape Cod. ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/90 "2015-08-13T18:13:27Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I’m from Wisconsin. > > I’d prefer for the rest of you to tell me what we’re known for, other than cheese. Cows. A crapload of cows. We’ve got one on our state quarters for crying out loud. And yeah, I know that ties into cheese (which is also on the quarter), and you can’t have one without the other. But the thing that irks me about that is, one is delicious in grilled sandwiches, on pizzas, or paired with wine. One is loud, smelly, and poos and pees everywhere. Guess which one most outsiders probably think of first? Also, famous natives or residents. Gosh… Gene Wilder? Chris Farley? Matt Kenseth? Mark Ruffalo? Willem Dafoe? Tony Shalhoub? Joel Hodgson from MST3K? Seems to be no surprise that a lot of them move on. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/91 "2015-08-13T18:25:56Z")
> [@Cold\_Dish](#): > > Missouri checking in. Beer, baseball, and Branson? Also got the Arch, Jesse James, the Ozarks, President Harry S Truman, Rush Limbaugh. Also the birthplace of Samuel Clemens, and, um…the final\* i\* sometimes turning into a schwa at the end? Kansas City, specifically, is somewhat known for its importance to American music. :shrug: ETA: Crap, we’re gonna be known for Todd Akin and North (St. Louis) County for the next little bit, huh? ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/92 "2015-08-13T18:43:41Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I live in Nevada. We have Las Vegas: Elvis, Liberace, Sinatra, etc. Many of our hotels and our Strip are easily recognized at the moment. > > Las Vegas is pretty well-known (I’m taking an online class in Understatement) but the rest of the state not so much… Area 51 would be the thing most people would recognize, prolly. Hey how about: The Burning Man Comstock silver that built San Fransisco, twice Lake Tahoe The Bunny Ranch Bonanza:) Harry Reed ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/93 "2015-08-13T18:46:06Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > Cows. A crapload of cows. We’ve got one on our state quarters for crying out loud. And yeah, I know that ties into cheese (which is also on the quarter), and you can’t have one without the other. But the thing that irks me about that is, one is delicious in grilled sandwiches, on pizzas, or paired with wine. One is loud, smelly, and poos and pees everywhere. Guess which one most outsiders probably think of first? > > Also, famous natives or residents. Gosh… Gene Wilder? Chris Farley? Matt Kenseth? Mark Ruffalo? Willem Dafoe? Tony Shalhoub? Joel Hodgson from MST3K? Seems to be no surprise that a lot of them move on. Eric Heiden Frank Lloyd Wright ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/94 "2015-08-13T18:54:28Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I used to work for Quaker Oats. The brand has no actual connection to Pennsylvania; … Thanks. Now you going to disillusion me about Quaker State Motor Oil? 😉 I shoulda offered Hershey. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518/95 "2015-08-13T19:14:31Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I’d say Arizona is best known for the Grand Canyon. After that, most people probably think of the desert when they think of Arizona. > > The three most famous Arizonans are undoubtedly John McCain, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and probably Barry Goldwater. How about Sandra Day O’Conner, William Rehnquist, Bruce Babbitt, Janet Napolitano, and Gaby Giffords? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-or-who-is-your-state-known-for/727518.md?page=4)