BS: The oddest named city of them all...

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 09:52 PM

Although I'm not sure either was ever officially "a town," some decades ago "Climax" was 7 miles south of "Intercourse" out near the Fall River Reservoir in Easternish Kansas. A small sign marked where Intercourse was until about 20 or 30 years ago, but the last time I went by there was no visible trace of the settlement left. Climax still has a sign pointing in it's direction down the road, but it's not exactly a scenic high point so I haven't gone that way to see if it's actually still around.

While neither name is particularly noteworthy, the adjacency of the two was once a source of some "rude references," but the current locals don't appear to know anything ... ... or about the towns either.

John

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 09:12 PM

Yeah, the Big Foot Fouker/

Don't get me started on what people from various towns should be called. Like the people in Idaho Falls, ID should be the "Idaho Fallen."

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 08:43 PM

Wasn't there some Bigfoot-like monster associated with Fouke at one time?

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 08:14 PM

Newfoundland also has Conception Bay and Joe Batt's Arm. Nova Scotia has Garden Of Eden. (full of snakes and apple trees.)

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 07:39 PM

Well, there's:

Nutter Fort, WV
Fort Gay, WV
Big Bone Lick, KY
French Lick, IN
Pippa Passes, KY
Firth, ID (Hi, Don!)
Rifle, CO
Parachute, CO
Jackson Hole, WY
Smoot, WY
Fouke, AR
Bland, MO
Queen City, MO

and, of course,

Cooter, MO

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: JennieG
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 07:13 PM

In northern Queensland, Oz (known as Far North Queensland, or FNQ, by its locals.....and no, I'm not kidding about that, it's for real) lies the Town of 1770.

I believe it's a very nice little town.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Don Firth
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 06:52 PM

Western Washington State is especially blessed with interesting and unusual place names, most of which derive from Native Americans in this area. Seattle, after all, was named after Chief Sealth, chief of the Duwamish tribe.

Rivers such as the Skokomish, Stillaguamish, and Duwamish (this latter running through south Seattle), towns such as Queets and Sequim (pronounced "Squim"—silent "e."). One of my favorite river names is "Dosewallips" (also a state park).

####

A retired couple from the East, wanting to see a bit of the country out West, toured California for a few weeks, then headed up Highway 101 to view the spectacular coast of Oregon. They spent several days in and around the lovely city of Portland, then decided to head on up to Seattle, but not taking Interstate 5, the direct route. They would continue on 101 and circumnavigate the Olympic Peninsula, see the lush Hoh rain forest, then after passing through the small lumbering town of Forks and rounding Neah Bay, drive east through Port Townsend and Port Angeles, after which they would drive to Bremerton to see the naval ship yard and museum there, and take the ferry to Seattle and enjoy the spectacular view of the Seattle skyline as they enter Elliot Bay.

They left Portland and crossed the mighty Columbia River, famous in song and story. They headed northwest toward the Pacific Ocean, anticipating passing through Aberdeen and Hoquiam on their way north to the Olympic rain forest.

A short time after crossing the bridge over the Columbia, turning off I-5, heading toward the northwest, and passing through a small town, they began to feel unsure that they had taken the right road. So spotting a small general store and one-pump gas station, the man pulled over and went in to ask for directions.

There was an old fellow behind the counter, dressed in a plaid shirt and suspenders, and smoking a pipe as he leafed through a magazine.

"Excuse me," said the man, "we've just come from Portland and I think I may be lost. Could you tell me the name of the small town we passed though just a few miles that way?"

The man behind the counter had heard this lament many, many times before. He continued leafing through the magazine, but took the pipe out of his mouth and said, "Cathlamet."

"Um. . . and what is the next town we'll come to?"

"Skamakawa."

"Oh! And what county is this?"

"Wahkiakum."

He thanked the man behind the counter, then went back out to the car. His wife asked, "Where are we? Are we going in the right direction?"

"I have no idea," said the man. "They don't speak English here!"

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: GUEST,Songbob
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 05:13 PM

Little Whinging, Surrey (or is it Sussex) appears to be the home of some now-famous wizard named "Potter."

I always thought the name was clever, and over the heads of most US readers. As was the Black house -- "Grimmauld Place" (pronounced "Grim Old Place").

But my favorite name, in this case, a business name, was in "Toy Story," where the house was being sold by "Virtual Realty."

Admittedly, real place-names can be as charming, but most of the good 'uns has already been mentioned above.

Hence my retreat into pop culture.

Bob

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 03:01 PM

We have a Nowhere Road near us. (It actually goes to Reepham)

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Bert
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 01:02 PM

We musn't forget Barking in Essex.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: RangerSteve
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 12:55 PM

You can credit the British for the name "Flushing". It was originally a Dutch settlement called Vlissingen. When the Brits took over the area, they anglicized a lot of the Dutch names, applying English words that sounded like the original Dutch.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: lefthanded guitar
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 12:44 PM

Flushing, New York

And to get out of Flushing , you can get on the Utopia Parkway.

No kiddin' (in the borough of Queens, which is funny enough as it is)

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Bert
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 12:42 PM

My favorites are "Much Hadham" in Essex and "Turnham Green" in London.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 08:50 AM

Sandra-

"Nowhere Else"

Must be great for real estate ads!

Here in Maine we have the Nonesuch River but there's no sign of a town by that name; in fact there's not much sign of a river either!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, who was shafted in Shaftsburg, Michigan

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 07:51 AM

Australia has a good selection, I'm excluding Australian aboriginal names that look odd to our eyes.


Come by chance, NSW
Immortalised in a Banjo Patterson poem, this settlement in north-western New South Wales got its name from pastoralists who happened upon a large vacant block, while en route somewhere else more promising.

Foul Bay, SA
Named by Matthew Flinders in 1802 because of its poor anchorage, this bay on the Yorke Peninsula is far nicer than its moniker suggests. Also nearby is the delightful sounding Tiddy Widdy Beach.

Mount Buggery, Victoria
The evocative and typically Aussie name

Nowhere Else, Tasmania & SA
Located near Devonport in north-western Tasmania, there really is "nowhere else", like Nowhere Else. Well, actually there is ... like many of our visitors have pointed out, a place called Nowhere Else can be found on the Eyre Peninsula in SA too!

Rooty Hill, NSW
Area in western Sydney named by Governor King in 1802. Disappointingly, the name refers to roots exposed in fields around the hill following floods.

Tom Ugly, NSW
Tom Ugly Point, near Sylvania in Sydney's south, is named after an Aboriginal Australian who lived in a rock shelter in this area during the mid-19th century. His nickname was said to be ironic as he was a strong, handsome fellow.

Yorkeys Knob, Queensland
Located just north of Cairns, it got its name from a fisherman from Yorkshire, George Yorkey Lawson, who lived nearby in the late 19th century. Locals have since resisted attempts to rename it Yorkeys Beach, fond as they are of the original moniker, despite the reactions it sometimes provokes.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 07:37 AM

Just outside Bradford you can find the Idle Workingmen's Club.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: ragdall
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 05:15 AM

If you drive north and east on Highway 23 from Intercourse, Pennsylvania, you'll encounter Blue Ball.

Or Pysht, Washington? (They wanted to name the town "Psyche," but didn't know how to spell it, according to the old story.)
Similar story to the name "Chicken", Alaska, being chosen because they couldn't agree on the spelling of "Ptarmigan"?

rags

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: theleveller
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 04:53 AM

I'd forgotten about The Land of Nod - it's near Holme upon Spalding Moor. I've never actually been there although I live only a few miles away.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Darowyn
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 04:17 AM

And just down the hill, in the Vale Of Evesham, you can find Wyre Piddle, and Whiteladies Aston.
Meanwhile, down a long narrow road in East Yorkshire there is 'The Land of Nod'.
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: theleveller
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 03:13 AM

Two of the prettiest villages in the Cotswolds are Upper and Lower Slaughter.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: RangerSteve
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 02:11 AM

My favorite New Jersey town name is Ong's Hat. The name also makes a good expletive, along the lines of Good Grief or Christ Almighty!

I mentioned this in a thread years ago, but I'll do it again. There are some place names that are just satisfying to say, and I repeat them when I'm in a traffic jam, just because they make me smile. Here goes: Woonsocket, Moonachie, Hackensack, Ho-ho-cus, Snohomish, Speonk, Squankum, Ong's Hat, Nether Wallop, Moose Factory, Titicaca, Tegucigalpa, and this piece of poetry: Nantahala, Walla Walla, Shinecock, Matinicock, Saugatuck, Naugatuck, Wawa, Mahwah.

There's a Slaughter Beach in Delaware. I hope Slaughter is someones last name in this case.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Sep 11 - 12:08 AM

Probably the most idiotic name extant is the town in New Mexico that officially changed it's name to "Truth or Consequences" to pander to a rather stupid TV show.

The town's still there, although the TV show is gone.

Actually though the show didn't sink to the depths of most of the current rigged and manipulated "quiz shows," and the "consequences" were crude but relatively innocent "embarrassments" that were nothing like the bullying in quite a few recent "funny prank" shows.

John

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Deckman
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 11:48 PM

"Dismal Seepage", Wyoming. I've been there ... it's just out of Morecroft. bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 11:32 PM

Oh, right...it was the Ralphs who said "Har". Har. They haven't been around in quite awhile. Har. I wish they would return. Har. Maybe if I keep doing this, they will. Har.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 09:35 PM

If you go to Timewell, Illinois you can stay in the Gross Motel. Timewell is a place where time is, well, stuck in the 1880s or something.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 09:23 PM

Possum Kingdon is not a town, but is applied to a state park and a lake.

It's "Possum Kingdom." Most of the land around the lake burned last spring and again this summer.

Texas has some very unusual names. It's such a large state that once you get out of your region you can be really surprised by the names you come across.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 08:04 PM

Harty Har Har, Alice.

Two Egg sounds like my kinda town. Here's a plug for Dale Cox and his book, "Two Egg, Florida; a Collection of Ghost Stories."
He also wrote "A Christmas in Two Egg."

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 07:59 PM

Did anyone mention Bucksnort, Tennessee or Chunky, Mississippi? Or Pysht, Washington? (They wanted to name the town "Psyche," but didn't know how to spell it, according to the old story.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: artbrooks
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 07:58 PM

Albuquerque is very simple - the Spanish settlers named it after the Duke of Alburquerque, because the wanted money from him. However, they spelled his name wrong, so they got nada.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 07:19 PM

Har! Har! (That reminds me...what's become of the Freds?)

It wasn't Freds who said "Har!", it was Ralphs.

Back on topic, I cast votes for Two Egg, Florida, Spuds, Florida, and Hot Coffee, Mississipi. Sounds like the makings of a pretty good breakfast, doesn't it?

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: gnu
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 06:54 PM

I know a TwoFour up Kent County but it's a kinda LARGE area.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 05:30 PM

Onefour, Alberta. Named for the coordinates of the town, in the SE corner of the province.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 05:27 PM

Rabbit Hash, KY

Blue Ball, PA

Chilly and Soldier, ID

Chicken, AK

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 05:26 PM

Possum Kingdon is not a town, but is applied to a state park and a lake.
But Dime Box, now the villages of Old and New Dime Box, and the town of Mule Shoe, are real (Texas).

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 04:47 PM

Har! Har! (That reminds me...what's become of the Freds?)

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Bill D
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 04:01 PM

naaawww... but Onan was.

(The geography is accurate...the biblical reference needs clarification)

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: gnu
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 03:53 PM

Yer teasin.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Bill D
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 03:49 PM

"Assawoman is an unincorporated community in Accomack County, Virginia. Its ZIP code is 23302. Assawoman was originally known as Assawaman until 1966 when the Board on Geographic Names decided upon its current spelling."

It IS actually just 'above' Onancock on the map.....but Onancock sounds like it doesn't need anything above it...

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 02:50 PM

I forgot Bumpass Virginia.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 02:49 PM

Assawoman and Onancock Virginia. Don't know how near each is to the other but sounds as if one should be right on top of t'other.

Fingringhoe in Essex UK

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 01:58 PM

Dorset has Rime Intrinsica

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Becca72
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 01:57 PM

My ex lives in Flower Mound, Tx

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: DMcG
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 01:54 PM

Pity me, near Durham UK

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: gnu
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 01:50 PM

Newfoundland : Dildo; Come-By-Chance

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 01:34 PM

Michigan has several contenders beside Hell, Paradise and Eden. In the running are:

Shaftsburg
Bad Ax
Cement City
Climax
Eureka
and let's not forget Paw Paw.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 01:27 PM

Penistone

Badgers Mount (er, yes, they probably do)

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: GUEST,Bluesman
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 12:24 PM

"Hackballs Cross" County Louth Ireland. I think I would be cross too !

http://www.maplandia.com/ireland/north-east/louth/hackballs-cross/

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Bill D
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 12:07 PM

Dr. Phillips, Florida


and Climax, Colorado. (Near Fairplay) joke is, "How do you get to Climax without going thru Fairplay?"

At one time, there was a fad of..ummm.. 'liberating' Climax road signs to hang in dorm rooms, until the Colorado highway dept, took to welding them to the posts.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: theleveller
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 12:00 PM

I think some of the most charming names in England are in the Fens around King's Lynn – such as Emneth Hungate, Whaplode St Catherines, Shepeau Stow, Clenchwarton, Tydd Gote and Moulton Eaugate.

Subject: RE: BS: The oddest named city of them all...
From: Smedley
Date: 26 Sep 11 - 11:35 AM

Pratts Bottom (in Kent).

Twatt (in the Orkneys).