# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/81 "2004-10-21T20:37:34Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The Great Miami River is an “invisible river” in Dayton. No one seems to even acknowledge its existence. Except, by implication, with “Riverscape.” Also I want to add my college location of Delaware, Ohio. It is home to the birthplace of president Rutherford B. Hayes, which was featured on the Daily Show several years ago! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Roscoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Captain\_Roscoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Roscoe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/82 "2004-10-21T21:00:19Z")
Northampton, UK **Shoes**. We have the largest collection of shoes in the world from the Stone Age to the present day in our shoe museum. Our football team is called the Cobblers, although you won’t have heard very much about them because they’re crap. We are very much a shoe town. That’s about it. Not much going on in Northampton really. I guess there have been a few medieval battles and beheadings and all that back in the day, but you asked what it was famous for. And that’s shoes. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/83 "2004-10-21T21:01:25Z")
My home town of **Hobbs, NM** is the location of the [National Headquarters of the Soaring Society of America](http://www.ssa.org/). In 1983, it hosted the World Soaring Championships. It was also mentioned in the book _Friday Night Lights_, which is now a major motion picture in a theater near you. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/84 "2004-10-21T21:07:53Z")
As a proud Long Islander, I could mention folks like Amy Fisher or Sarah Hughes or Joe Satriani…but that’s too broad a brush to paint with here. I grew up in a nice little town called Islip, which is famous the world over for sending tons of garbage on a tropical cruise. [Famous Garbage Barge](http://www.newsoftheodd.com/article1018.html) Ugh! Long Island also was the birthplace of “Duck Architecture,” so named because some folks built a building that looked like…um…a [Big Duck.](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/NYFLAduck.html) I **am** proud of living here though…honest! ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/85 "2004-10-21T21:24:10Z")
> [@Enola Straight](#): > > One stop of the LPGA championship tour. > > Also, the Eddie and the Cruisers movie shot here I still have my soundtrack cassette from that movie! “On the dark side, oh yeah, on the dark side…” Let’s see, I was born in Greensburg, KS, home of The World’s Largest Hand-Dug Well. I grew up in Dodge City. KS - Gunsmoke, Boot Hill. IIRC, Damon Runyon spent time in my college town of Manhattan, KS. Now we’re in Kansas City. MO. Um… (Oklahoma!) “Everything’s up to date in Kansas City…” (Oklahoma!) That’s the only thing I can think of. A friend who grew up here informs me that it came close to being named “Possum Trot.” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/86 "2004-10-21T21:34:01Z")
My city is home to Fred Phelps. _The_ Fred Phelps, and his church from Hell, Westboro Baptist. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/87 "2004-10-21T21:34:11Z")
Baltimore, home of the first duckpin bowling alley. What the hell is [duckpin](http://www.duckpins.com/common/info/) you say? ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/88 "2004-10-21T21:44:55Z")
> [@Dolores Reborn](#): > > Um, the Astrodome? NASA? You’re missing the best one for Houston…the fattest city in the country. ---
**Author:** ![Sami41](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@Sami41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sami41)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/89 "2004-10-21T21:53:10Z")
The World’s Largest Enchilada. Rich Beem went to high school and college here, but he claims El Paso as home. And that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/90 "2004-10-21T22:03:38Z")
My hometown is the birthplace of the chimechanga. Jo-jo left his home there. Most of our B-52 fleet is dismembered there with a giant guillotine and left out in the sun so Russian satellites can photograph them. Had the first municipal airport in the US. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/91 "2004-10-21T22:44:10Z")
My home town is famous for Evenflo baby bottles and Oak Rubber toy balloons. Gone now. Before that it was the birthplace of Quaker Oats. Long gone now. My undergrad town is famous for Talon zippers. Gone now. My grad town is famous for Procter and Gamble. Still there. My current town is currently famous for maybe getting into the World Series, if the team from the town famous for Budweiser doesn’t beat them. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/92 "2004-10-21T22:52:54Z")
Living in: Austin, Texas, which is famous around Texas for being too _LLLLiberal_, also for live music. Hometown: Galveston, Texas, which is probably most famous for getting destroyed, notably by the [1900 Storm](http://www.1900storm.com) and [the Texas City Disaster](http://www.local1259iaff.org/disaster.html) (that one happened across the bay on the Mainland, but the city was damaged by the blast and debris, and traffic was shut down so ambulances could run to the island’s med school.) The architecture is also pretty nice. It’s also Jack Johnson’s hometown. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/93 "2004-10-21T23:29:59Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Gay people, near-annual flooding, and one of the filming locations for Spielberg’s _A.I._ I don’t know where AI was filmed, but other than that, sounds a lot like Guerneville, CA. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/94 "2004-10-21T23:40:03Z")
My current city is famous for homosexuals, street cars, a prison, fog, and a neat bridge. My hometown is where part of “The Dukes of Hazzard” was filmed, as well as a pilgrimage destination for many Christians, because a woman claimed to see the Virgin Mary on her fram once a month for several years. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/95 "2004-10-21T23:47:22Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > My current city is famous for homosexuals, street cars, a prison, fog, and a neat bridge. And the taxis…of which there are _fiiiiiive_… (Apologies, Mr Izzard) ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/96 "2004-10-21T23:56:11Z")
> [@Sami41](#): > > The World’s Largest Enchilada. Rich Beem went to high school and college here, but he claims El Paso as home. And that’s about it. Anywhere near Hatch NM? Home of the best chilis in the world? God I miss the food out there. I’m from **Chagrin Falls, Ohio** , population about 4500,which our native **Tim Conway** mentioned frequently on episodes of McHale’s navy. But wait! There’s more! The late **Doug Kenney** , founder of National Lampoon and a creator of Animal House, and Caddyshack, was from Chagirn Falls too. Not to be outdone, my classmate for eight years, **Bill Watterson** , created an obscure little comic strip called Calvin and Hobbes. I guess with a name like “Chagrin”, the natives feel the need to overcompensate… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/97 "2004-10-22T00:38:20Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I grew up in **Dayton, Ohio** , and I currently work there. Dayton is famous for the following: > … > Everyone that lives here wants to move to Florida. > > Around the Dayton area, jobs are plentiful, the homes are nice, and the cost of living is low. I spent year 1 through 7 of my life in Dayton, then we moved to … guess. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/98 "2004-10-22T01:49:28Z")
Just remembered that the town I went to high school in, is only a hop, skip and jump away from The Shire, where Hobbits come from (or at least where they filmed it). The farmer whose land it is, is making a fast buck from tourists - charging them around $60 to tour his muddy farm - it’s not like you can go into the houses, they are just facades! ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/99 "2004-10-22T02:45:55Z")
Elvis 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285/100 "2004-10-22T07:08:07Z")
Can’t think of a thing. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-town-famous-for/270285.md?page=6)