# What's your town famous for? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285 "2004-10-20T21:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/21 "2004-10-20T22:44:45Z")
[Fastest growing community in the U.S.](http://www.ci.gilbert.az.us/econdev/default.cfm), baby. Also, we have a [water tower](http://www.ci.gilbert.az.us/photogallery/pages/33watertower.cfm). ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/22 "2004-10-20T22:46:11Z")
Gangland stuff? It’s been a long time since Al Capone ran the west side of Chicago, but that’s still what people want to know about when they find out where you’re from. It’s still awfully corrupt though. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/23 "2004-10-20T22:47:16Z")
Well, of course Malibu is home of plenty of celebrities - Britney Spears, Mel Gibson, Nick Nolte (I don’t even know who that is, I just know he lives here), and probably plenty more that I don’t know about. My hometown, Gulfport, isn’t particularly famous for anything that I’m aware of (except for maybe casinos), but neighboring Biloxi is the location of Beauvoir, the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Also we have the [Cruisin’ the Coast](http://www.cruisinthecoast.com/) event, which I guess isn’t famous, but it is mighty cool. I missed it this year, though. Darn it! Oh, and we’re also the home of one of the big Confederate flag controversies. No one seems to care too much about that anymore, though. ---
**Author:** ![MsPrufrock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@MsPrufrock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsPrufrock)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/24 "2004-10-20T23:07:43Z")
Er…not a whole heck of a lot actually Erle Stanley Gardner made his home here in later life. He donated a lot of stuff to the local museum and they’re in the process of setting up a museum all about him. Oh, and the local hot springs were a big place for stars to come in the 20s and 30s I am told. I have not read a lot on that so I am not positive on any details. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/25 "2004-10-20T23:21:44Z")
The Summer Olympics in 2000, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/26 "2004-10-20T23:33:06Z")
Johny Cash shot a man here just to watch him die. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/27 "2004-10-20T23:34:06Z")
My town supplied the stone for the Chicago Water tower which survived the fire. Argonne national laboratory is also here. That’s probably it. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/28 "2004-10-20T23:35:58Z")
I live in Montreal, so it’s not exactly hard to come up with things – major historical events, great writers and artists, good food, interesting arcitecture… My hometown – Esquimalt, BC – oddly, has never become famous, in spite of a series of horrific crimes commited there, or in neighbouring municipalities by its residents. We’ve had a disturbingly large number of young killers from the town (Warren Glowatski, who killed Rina Virk; Jesse Constable’s killers, the guys who beat Nicholas Chow Johnson into a coma), a few unsolved murders, and it also happens to be the hometown of Canada’s most famous missing child, Michael Dunahee. No one notices it’s all happening there, because Esquimalt is so close to the capital, Victoria that most people confuse the two. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/29 "2004-10-20T23:40:16Z")
My true hometown has the greatest Anglo-Saxon burial, [Sutton Hoo](http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/places/suttonhoo/). My nearest large town has the greatest royal sycophant, [Thomas Wolsey](http://englishhistory.net/tudor/citizens/wolsey.html). Take your pick. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/30 "2004-10-20T23:55:54Z")
On July 8, 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached his _[Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God](http://members.aol.com/jonathanedw/Sinners.html)_ sermon in my home town, helping start The Great Awakening, an American religious revival of the 1740’s (the echoes of which, it could be said, are still reverberating today.) ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/31 "2004-10-21T00:00:21Z")
Johnny Cash wrote a song about the [Starkville City Jail.](http://www.toptown.com/hp/66/starkvil.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/32 "2004-10-21T00:05:15Z")
Granite. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/33 "2004-10-21T00:05:50Z")
One of my most popular threads… [What cities will forever be known for one specific thing/event?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=153484) ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/34 "2004-10-21T00:10:38Z")
Lots of boats and volcanoes. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/35 "2004-10-21T00:22:09Z")
While I don’t actually live there (was raised about 5 minutes away), we have the [world’s only government documented UFO report](http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dledger/Shag_Harbour_article.html). I’m currently living in Halifax, and there’s quite a few things here as well, Hurricane Juan and White Juan (snowstorm) just in the last year, and of course the [Halifax Explosion](http://www.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion/). Not to mention hockey. Can’t forget the hockey. ---
**Author:** ![Sharky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sharky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sharky)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/36 "2004-10-21T00:33:19Z")
[The World’s Most Beautiful Beaches.](http://www.panamacitybeachonline.com/) ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/37 "2004-10-21T00:36:40Z")
Current town: most well known for its two most famous “residents.” (Who are never here.) Hometown: Abso-friggin-lutely nothin’ baby! It’s so small you can drive through faster than you can say “Is this a town? Oh, guess not.” ---
**Author:** ![violacrane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c57346/32.png) [@violacrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violacrane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/38 "2004-10-21T00:36:46Z")
Steel, especially cutlery and knives. Two (unrelated) popstars called Cocker. The political rally that backfired for Neil Kinnock and kept John Major in power. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/39 "2004-10-21T00:37:17Z")
My home towm is famous for watches. Old clocks all over the world still say, Set By a Waltham Watch. Also, we were home to some of the earliest mills in the country. Then Francis Cabbot Lowell moved to my new home, the aptly named Lowell, and made more mills, which led to labor movements. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/40 "2004-10-21T00:43:39Z")
You ever hear of naugahyde? The nauga- comes from my town. It was once a big rubber manufacturing town. I even live on a street off of Rubber Ave. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285.md?page=3)