BS: Favorite Town Names Part II

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: DonD
Date: 18 May 02 - 01:09 PM

My mind (and heart) must still be in my birthplace, The Bronx. In elementary school, the teachers would raise cain if you didn't capitalize the T.

What makes it special to me as a place name is that unlike The Dalles et al, it's not named after a landmark like a harbor or river rapids or such, but a family, that of the Dutch patroon, Jonas Bronk.

What an impact on history and the face of the land to have your family homestead become the world famous name of a place. Can I aspire someday to having some place called The Deixels? I doubt it unless I move out of this sixth floor apartment and into an uninhabited desert destined for future urbanization.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Mudlark
Date: 18 May 02 - 12:22 PM

Arkansas is full of great town names, some of towns so small they're not even on most maps: Marble, Snowball, Bug Tussle come to mind...and in San joachin Valley...Weed -- so unassuming!

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Genie
Date: 17 May 02 - 11:35 PM

Ozmacca and Liland, re "The," I'm reminded of a phenomenon I encountered when living in Toronto. There is a large arterial called "Danforth [Street or Boulevard or whatever], which, I discovered, was commonly referred to as "The Danforth" (as in, "I take The Danforth to QEW" or whatever). I never understood the "The," since this is not a highway, freeway, etc.

Bill Kennedy, I'm an Oregano, and I thought the name of The Dalles WAS "The Dalles," not "Dalles." Am I wrong?

Also, isn't "LeHavre" the NAME of the city (rather than just "Havre?")

Genie

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: GUEST,Bruce E
Date: 17 May 02 - 07:19 AM

A few years ago I was in Between, Georgia.

"In between Georgia and what?"

Just in Between.

Half way between Atlanta, GA and Athens, GA is the town named - Between, GA.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: RangerSteve
Date: 17 May 02 - 07:06 AM

Thanks for the info on Skaneateles. I've been to some of the places I've mentioned, and I'd like to see the rest, just out of curiosity. As for towns named after numbers, there's a town in Pennsylvania called Eighty Six. And how about names that don't make any sense? There's a town in Pennsylvania called Jersey Shore. It's in the middle of the state, miles from New Jersey and the shore.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: GUEST,fox4zero
Date: 17 May 02 - 02:10 AM

Skaneateles was where I caught my first Lake Trout when I was a freshman at Syracuse U. There was a famous restaurant there called Krebs, where every hungry student wanted to be treated by his/her parents [I was always hungry at that age]. The lake water was clear and served as drinking water for Syracuse, 20 miles away.

Larry

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: 53
Date: 16 May 02 - 08:38 PM

Conway and Sweetwater are 2 of my favorite names of towns.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Haruo
Date: 16 May 02 - 07:00 PM

The whole BC Caribou Country highway.

Liland

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Gareth
Date: 16 May 02 - 06:27 PM

Well in South Wales we have "Nine Mile Point" named after a railway junction and Colliery.

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 16 May 02 - 06:18 PM

Just out of interest, I wonder if there are many towns which are only named with numbers?

For example, I know we've got a town named Seventeen Seventy in Queensland. Any others? (Not counting names with numbers included like Seven Hills etc.)

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 16 May 02 - 04:13 PM

Skaneateles is a pretty little town, too, right on a FInger lake, nice restaurant overlooking the lake on the far east side of town.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: RangerSteve
Date: 16 May 02 - 04:09 PM

In addition to what I said above: Saugatuck, Naugutuck, Shinnecock, Matinicock, Weehawken, Speonk, Showongunk, and the town most likely to be mispronounced - Skaneateles (in upstate New York, pronounced so it rhymes more or less with Minneapolis).

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 16 May 02 - 02:57 PM

There's a town in France called Y

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 16 May 02 - 02:05 PM

there is a 'The Dalles, Oregon' and a 'The Village, Oklahoma' and a 'The Woodlands, Texas'

Ireland seems to have a few, 'The Rosses' and 'The Curragh' (not a cities, but areas) there is 'The Diamond', in N. Ireland, and there are 'The Pike' 'The Harrow' and 'The Mullet' in Republic of Ireland. BTW, a mullet is a US word for that ridiculous hairstyle, where little hair grows on the top (not bald though, just short) and hair is long over the neck., Hope it is not from the Irish village!

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 May 02 - 10:13 AM

London - "the Smoke"
Edinburgh "Aud Reekie" (means Old Smelly - as in Smoke again)
In the Cagney and Lacey series the opening clips always showed a New York bridge with the roadsign bearing the message "entering Queens", definitely a director's "statement".

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Kim C
Date: 16 May 02 - 09:56 AM

This isn't a town name, but someone mentioned street names in the other thread so I'm going to throw one in. In Lebanon, TN (and down here, y'all, that's pronounced Lebnun - if you say Leb-a-NON it means You Ain't From Around Here) there's a road called Tater Peeler Road.

Mister said he didn't remember the story of the Stone Head, except that the head gets stolen once in awhile off the pedestal. Teenage prank and all that.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Snuffy
Date: 16 May 02 - 08:52 AM

On the southeast outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent is a place that appears on maps as Meir, but it is usually referred to as The Meir. Likewise Lye, near Stourbridge, is always The Lye.

WassaiL! V

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: RangerSteve
Date: 16 May 02 - 07:10 AM

Jerry Rasmussen (I may have spelled that wrong) mentioned towns that sound good - Kankakee and Waxahatchie. I'll go one further and add that there are towns in the US and Canada that actually cheer me up when I say them. In addition to the two above I'll add Kalamazoo, Pascagoula, Tonowanda, Cheektowaga, Whippany and Parsippany (Two separate towns, accents on the "ip") Ho-Ho-Kus, Saskatoon (or even better - Saskatoon Saskatchewan), Walla Walla, Moonachie, Ipswich, Nantahala (not a town as far as I know, but a national forest), Snohomish, Woonsocket, Piscataway, Appalachicola (I probably spelled that wrong), Chicopee. That's all I can think of now. Previous posts on this thread have been a great source for other names I can add. Thanks. And thanks to the Native Americans for all of the above, with the exception of Ipswich, Thanks to the Brits for that one.

And as to where these places are, You'll have to look them up. That's part of the fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Haruo
Date: 16 May 02 - 02:00 AM

Yeah, but that's not an article "A", is it? It looks more like an "If you've gotta live in a mine settlement you couldn't ask for a better one than this" sort of A 1. All those "The's", though... thanks!

Liland

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: GUEST,ozmaca
Date: 16 May 02 - 01:28 AM

Oh no... We've even got an "A"... A 1 Mine Settlement in Victoria has a post code.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Haruo
Date: 16 May 02 - 01:27 AM

I think it's Le Havre, not L'Havre (has to do with what they call liaison, pronounced like the name Lee A. Zohn). I think lots of French place names have prefixed articles, but I'm thinking of places (like The Hague, the Bronx, or The Newtown) where "the" is part of the English name (and I don't recall seeing "The Havre" in English; there's a Havre, Montana, but it's never had an article that I've seen [nor much else, it's one of those depressing towns just off to the side of depressing, depressed Indian reservations].

Liland

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 16 May 02 - 01:24 AM

Never mind about anywhere else, I just checked the Australian Post Codes listing. There are 28 places across the country given with post codes which have "The" as prefixes.... Mind you, I think I like The Risk in New South Wales, and The Spectacles in West Australia. There are even two places called The Spit....

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 16 May 02 - 01:17 AM

Liland, back when I still lived in Scotland, one local village was ALWAYS referred to as The Newtown, although pronounced The N't'n. Don't recall if it's real name actually had the "The" attached. And how about L'Havre - Is that right? Long time since I was concerned with the French. Got me interested now... back to the old atlas....

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Haruo
Date: 16 May 02 - 01:04 AM

DonD's mention of the more or less mandatory definite article on the Bronx (actually, while I agree that it's the only normal way to say it, I'm not used to capitalizing the the) leads me to wonder if there are many other town or other place names (toponyms, in other words) out there that have "the" (or, perhaps even odderly, "a", "an" or "some") prefixed in like manner unto the Bronx. The only one that comes instantaneously to my mind is the Dutch city "The Hague", which also has two Dutch forms, both with an article ("Den Haag" and "s'Gravenhage", I think; any Dutch 'catters want to correct my spelling?)

Liland

Subject: Favorite Town Names Part II
From: Haruo
Date: 16 May 02 - 12:35 AM

Since the original "Favorite Town Names" thread is up over a hundred, I thought it would be worth starting a second volume.

Liland