# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/21 "2004-02-08T03:25:09Z")
An earlier thread on this subject: > **[Odd place names](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=191099)** > > I’m sure we’ve gone here before, but a quick search didn’t turn it up. Driving home from S.A. today, I saw that I-10 passes over one I hadn’t noticed before, Woman Hollering Creek. Sure that there was an interesting story, I searched as soon as I... ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/22 "2004-02-08T03:36:24Z")
Ninety-Six, South Carolina is not too far from where I live. ---
**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, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/23 "2004-02-08T03:45:08Z")
For the Marines in the house: Eastbound from Ash Fork, AZ on I-40 headed towards Flagstaff, one will pass a sign for “Devil Dog Rd”. Tripler And if that weren’t enough, someone slapped a globe and anchor sticker on the sign. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/24 "2004-02-08T03:59:13Z")
My Dad was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Here in British Columbia we have Spuzzum, Squamish, Coquitlam, Matsqui Tswassen and Lillooet. As you can see, the settlers didn’t bother to change things much! Pitt Meadows gets a fair bit of, um, modification…(just sub “s” for “t”). ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/25 "2004-02-08T04:03:48Z")
In the LA area there’s Rancho Cucamonga, Tujunga, La Canada (cahn-YAH-da), etc. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/26 "2004-02-08T04:04:31Z")
My mother was born in a small Florida town called Wewahitchka. There is also a Frostproof and a Kissimmee in Florida. ---
**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, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/27 "2004-02-08T04:05:19Z")
**dutchboy208** , “Sault Ste. Marie” is slightly-mangled French for “The Rapids of Saint Mary”. (Ste. = Sainte.) These rapids are on the St. Mary’s River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The Canada/US border runs down the middle of the river. Yes, a succession of canals have been built there, on both side of the border, but there is also a city on either side, named Sault Ste. Marie. This is usually shortened in colloquial speech to “The Soo”, and often written on letters as “S. S. Marie”. The Canadian city has a population of around 75 000; the US city is smaller. Both cities started as settlements associated with the canals, I believe. On the Canadian side, there is a steel mill (currently in trouble), a tourist train into the northlands, and the usual facilities associated with a border town. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is also the regional service centre for a vast area of northern Ontario, so it has a greater variety of things than one might expect from a place its size: two colleges, a larger-than-expected mall, the headquarters of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (thanks to a policy of government decentralisation), and the Ontario Bushplane Museum, for instance. It is the home town of one of Canada’s astronauts, Roberta Bondar. How do I know all this? My sister lives there. 🙂 ---
**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:** [February 8, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/28 "2004-02-08T04:18:46Z")
Oregon has Boring and Drain and Sisters. We have a lot of Native names here, including Tititlik. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/29 "2004-02-08T04:21:08Z")
My Fave? Buttzville, NJ! There is actually a hot dog joint called “Hot Dog Johnny’s” in Buttzville, and you can buy a shirt that says Hot Dog Johnny’s Buttzville, NJ Seems vaguely naughty… There’s also “Ong’s Hat, NJ”, and “Mount Misery, NJ” both of which are in the Pine Barrens, where the tallest thing around is the “Forked River Mountains” which tower 182 feet above sea level, and are located in “Forked River, NJ” (Pronounced like the word “fork” and then the name “ed”). In Southern NJ, there is a “Nummytown” and a “Miami Beach” as well. There is a “Sim Place, NJ” as well, which is also in the Pine Barrens. In North Jersey, there is a Ho-Ho-Kus, but I don’t know why… ---
**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, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/30 "2004-02-08T04:22:09Z")
Didn’t Johnny Knoxville find a town called ‘mycock’ or something? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/31 "2004-02-08T04:40:35Z")
My dad is from Ducktown, TN and lived for a while in Turtletown, TN. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/32 "2004-02-08T05:51:20Z")
I live just up the road from Uncertain, Texas. For sheer unpronouncability there’s the sister cities of Nacogdoches, TX and Natchitoches, LA. I don’t get what’s so funny about Voorhees, NJ. I used to live near Voorheesville, NY… ---
**Author:** ![xayoz306](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xayoz306](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xayoz306)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/33 "2004-02-08T06:38:01Z")
Who can forget: Joe, Montana Bald Butte, Saskatchewan (only funny when mispronounced) Conception Bay, Newfoundland I heard on CBC One once that there was an Athol, Ontario, pronounced Athhole. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/34 "2004-02-08T06:42:10Z")
Yeah! Johnny Knoxsville visited “Myanus” I do believe. I’m quite fond of **Conception Junction** , Missouri It just sounds like fun. About 8 miles down a crappily paved road from my town is **Earlton**. Yeah, its as crappy as it sounds. It has one store and no restaurants and about 4 streets. ---
**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, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/35 "2004-02-08T06:43:41Z")
> [@Wonko The Sane](#): > > In North Jersey, there is a Ho-Ho-Kus, but I don’t know why… Yep. Ho-Ho-Kus still exists. More of a village between Waldwick and Ridgewood, but it’s still there. Tripler I’m from Ramsey, just up Franklin Tpke. ---
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/36 "2004-02-08T06:53:32Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > (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.”) How did I know home sweet home would get mentioned here. Though **featherlou** got most of the Saskatchewan ones, I’ll add in **Livelong** , **Love** , and **Cando** to the list. And of course **Regina** , famously mocked by David Letterman, which rhymes uncomfortably with a part of the female anatomy. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/37 "2004-02-08T07:25:21Z")
I grew up not far from **Knockemstiff, Ohio**. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/38 "2004-02-08T08:06:42Z")
On a long road trip last year, I couldn’t pass by [this sign](http://tinyurl.com/yrsaz) without taking a photo. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/39 "2004-02-08T08:26:53Z")
A small settlement in West Virginia officially changed its name from Mole Hill to Mountain as a stunt for a radio program. Belchertown is a town in Massachusetts. Bumpass is a village in Virginia. Chicken Strip is an airport in California. Lower Fannys Hole is an unpopulated place in Idaho. [Fucking](http://www.snopes.com/photos/austria.asp) is a town in Austria ---
**Author:** ![Extraneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@Extraneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extraneous)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022/40 "2004-02-08T08:36:41Z")
Nobody’s mentioned **Gnaw Bone, IN**? I used to commute through it (with a beer in my hand - necessary to maintain mental health in that part of the world… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-city-names/228022.md?page=3)