# Wierd City Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 7, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022 "2004-02-07T20:09:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mans2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mans2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mans2004)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/1 "2004-02-07T20:09:41Z")
I love cities that have strange or odd names, like: Oblong, Illinois Opossum Trot, Kentucky Cut and Shoot, Texas You guys have wierd city names in your state you’d like to share? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/2 "2004-02-07T20:18:52Z")
Little Rock is derived from an Indian name, as is Arkansas. An Ouachita Chief of the Oskaola clan was named “He Whose Enemies Testicles Shrink at His Approach”. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/3 "2004-02-07T20:35:58Z")
Washington has as many as anyone. Everyone has heard of Walla Walla. We also have Humptulips, Sequim, Washtucna, Klickatat, Forks, Pe Ell, and of couse a state named Washington needs a town named George. The city of Puyallup was named after chief in the Duwamish tribe. His name was Allup and was known for his great fishing skill. When the white man came to his area it was decided to name the new settlement after a local chief in honor of the hospitality offered to the new settlers. The leader of the settlers approached the chief and ask his name. He replied in his native tongue. The leader asked his interpretor what the chief said just as a breeze blew in from the local tide flats. The interpretor said: Pew Allup. The name stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Elvez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@Elvez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvez)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/4 "2004-02-07T20:51:28Z")
Smelterville, Idaho is high-class society, as you might imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/5 "2004-02-07T20:52:43Z")
I’ve always avoided \*\* Truth or Consequences\*\*, New Mexico, just based on the name Tripler Oh, it helps that there’s nothing there. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/6 "2004-02-07T20:54:14Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > I’ve always avoided \*\* Truth or Consequences\*\*, New Mexico, just based on the name > > Tripler > Oh, it helps that there’s nothing there. I beg your pardon. Ther _is_ a VOR there. ---
**Author:** ![peasea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc79bd/32.png) [@peasea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peasea)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/7 "2004-02-07T21:08:54Z")
There’s a Knob Lick in Missouri, and apparently, Kentucky. ---
**Author:** ![so\_da\_ne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@so\_da\_ne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/so_da_ne)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/8 "2004-02-07T21:13:29Z")
What about Alberta’s famous Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/9 "2004-02-07T21:13:57Z")
**French Lick, Indiana Red Hook, Connecticut King of Prussia, Pennsylvania** ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/10 "2004-02-07T21:31:09Z")
St. Louis du Ha! Ha! in Quebec. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/11 "2004-02-07T22:05:07Z")
There’s a Loco Hills and a Wagon Mound in New Mexico. The latter is named after an oddly shaped rock formation, as is the town of Shiprock. The NM/AZ border town of Window Rock also owes its name to an unusual looking rock. There’s a Sedan in New Mexico and I think there’s a Pietown, although I can’t find that one on the map. Kentucky has a Hell For Sartin. Michigan apparently has a Hell; I occasionally read newspaper articles claiming it has frozen over. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/12 "2004-02-07T22:20:18Z")
Let us not forget the poetic town-naming of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Who doesn’t want to visit _Blue Ball, Bird in Hand, and Intercourse_ ? There are a pair of towns in Somerset (in the UK) where I grew up called West and East Camel. Come to think of it, they might be in Dorset. Anyway, no camel has been within four thousand miles of Dorset or Somerset except as a zoo attraction at least since the last Ice Age. Then there was Shepton Mallet, which always made me think of some kind of sheep-braining device. Then there’s always LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH in Wales. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/13 "2004-02-07T22:37:10Z")
Let’s see: Elbow, Saskatchewan Eyebrow, Saskatchewan Biggar, Saskatchewan (town’s motto is “New York is big, but this is Biggar”) Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (my birthplace) Climax, Saskatchewan Dog Pound, Alberta Vulcan, Alberta and of course Dildo, Newfoundland (do some googling on this name for some cheap laughs) (Everyone knows the old joke about the American couple vacationing in Saskatchewan, who stop for gas just outside of Saskatoon. The guy gets out and asks the attendant where they are, and he replies, “Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.” The guy gets back in the car and tells his wife, “They don’t speak English here.”) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/14 "2004-02-07T23:50:29Z")
Lizard Lick, NC Bat Cave, NC 6, VA Lazbuddie, TX ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/15 "2004-02-08T00:35:14Z")
My personal favorite is Braintree, Massachusettes. I want a shirt that says “Braintree” on it. And then there’s always Peculiar, MO. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/16 "2004-02-08T00:37:38Z")
Well from my small area of the globe I know: Hot Coffee, Mississippi Two Egg, Florida ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/17 "2004-02-08T01:04:34Z")
Oswaldtwistle, very near to where I used to live (Accrington) ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/18 "2004-02-08T01:06:17Z")
Oooh, I almost forgot about **Voorhees, NJ** [sub]ch ch ch ch, ah ah ah ah . . .[/sub]. Which, by the way, isn’t too far from the Jersey Devil’s Pine Barrens. Tripler I went to No-Be-Bos-Co where they filmed the first _Friday the Thirteenth_. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/19 "2004-02-08T02:37:16Z")
On Highway 7B northeast of Toronto is the crossroads hamlet of **Yelverton**. That’s always been my favourite small-town name. It just rolls off the tongue so well. In Ontario, there are also **Omemee** , **Wawa** , **Summer Beaver** , **Central Patricia** , **Woman River** , and **Batchawana Bay**. 🙂 Then again, someone might think that **Mississauga** or **Sault Ste. Marie** , both sizable cities, are odd. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/20 "2004-02-08T03:06:40Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > On Highway 7B northeast of Toronto is the crossroads hamlet of **Yelverton**. That’s always been my favourite small-town name. It just rolls off the tongue so well. > > In Ontario, there are also **Omemee** , **Wawa** , **Summer Beaver** , **Central Patricia** , **Woman River** , and **Batchawana Bay**. 🙂 > > Then again, someone might think that **Mississauga** or **Sault Ste. Marie** , both sizable cities, are odd. I thought the Sault Ste. Marie was a canal… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022.md?page=2)