OT - Quaint Names (town, street, etc.)

[J Harp]

South Carolina has the Wateree River.

[kf2qd]

In eastern Oklahoma I-40 crosses a man-made lake and one of the roads intersecting is named Lottawata Road. I wouldn't have had the guts to propose that. Maybe proposed as a joke and it was accepted as a joke on the originator.

What about the town of Nowata, a bit north of Tulsa...

[bobw53]

I've always like Athol Springs, NY.

When I was in High School we used to play Athol, MA (where Starret is from). That was always a good long bus ride. We're going to kick the Ath Holes.... a$$ ????
(we always lost, we sucked).

And north of Truth or Consequences is Elephant Butte, its Butte with a long U like Butte Montana, but we're always going to Elephant Butt.

Then we've got Weed, which is odd considering that we are so close to the border.

One I think is just cool, is Cloud Croft (its in the clouds, literally). Come out of Alamogordo on an early January day, it was 70+ degrees, go 16 miles, and almost 7,000 more feet of elevation, and they just had 17 inches of snow, and it was still snowing.

[TGTool]

In eastern Oklahoma I-40 crosses a man-made lake and one of the roads intersecting is named Lottawata Road. I wouldn't have had the guts to propose that. Maybe proposed as a joke and it was accepted as a joke on the originator.

[lynnl]

Just noticed another odd name candidate today, along a road I drive regularly, but had never caught my eye before.
"Bumper Crop Lane"

A lot of the subdivisions around here were cotton fields just a few years ago, as was the case in this instance.

[lynnl]

The town has ALWAYS been Jackson. It was the valley that was called
"Jackson Hole" It's only the stupid tourists that have been calling the
the town that.
...Lew...

Well Drat! I wish you hadn't told me that.

Nevertheless, in the AF I worked with a guy who was from there, and he called it Jackson Hole. That was where I first learned of the place.

[Lew Hartswick]

When and why did Jackson Hole, WY become just plain Jackson?

I always liked the name Jackson Hole. I never saw any negative connotation to that name. ..."Hole" just kinda added a uniqueness to the place, in my opinion. Was out there summer before last, and saw almost no references at all to the old name.

The town has ALWAYS been Jackson. It was the valley that was called
"Jackson Hole" It's only the stupid tourists that have been calling the
the town that.
...Lew...

[platypus2020]

I used to live near Boonville NY, and yes, it was in the sticks.

I was through there on Friday and yes it is remote. And getting more remote as time goes on, its now basically a wide spot in the road with a Sunoco station and a Burger King.



jack

[lynnl]

When and why did Jackson Hole, WY become just plain Jackson?

I always liked the name Jackson Hole. I never saw any negative connotation to that name. ..."Hole" just kinda added a uniqueness to the place, in my opinion. Was out there summer before last, and saw almost no references at all to the old name.

[bruto]

There is a road in Kennebunk, ME, called Cat Mousam Road. It crosses the Maine Turnpike.

There is a road in Berlin, MA, called Hog Swamp Road. Berlin has over the years become somewhat of a desirable rural community to live in, and at one point several of the new residents petitioned the town to rename the road; they didn't like having the address "Hog Swamp." I'm not sure if they were successful or not.

In Sharon, CT, Mudge Pond was renamed Silver Lake by developers, but it didn't really stick. Locals still preferred the original, leaving the lake with two names.

In the odd city names category, has anyone remembered to include Medicine Hat, Alberta?

[SGW]

There is a road in Kennebunk, ME, called Cat Mousam Road. It crosses the Maine Turnpike.

There is a road in Berlin, MA, called Hog Swamp Road. Berlin has over the years become somewhat of a desirable rural community to live in, and at one point several of the new residents petitioned the town to rename the road; they didn't like having the address "Hog Swamp." I'm not sure if they were successful or not.

[J Tiers]

I once lived on Glendale street. It is either redundant or an oxymoron or both all by itself:

glen: Noun: A narrow valley.
dale: Noun: A valley, esp. a broad one.

So the street was named after a broad narrow valley. Or a valley valley. Or....

It isn't unusual in new developments, typically of "woodwaster" houses, to find names like "Greenvalley Ridge", or the like.

Similarly odd and internally inconsistent. All I can figure is that they mean the ridge BY the green valley, or, more likely, that they weren't considering the meaning of the name, just the way it "rolls off the tongue". Marketing, you know, gotta have a rustic-sounding name even if the place is paved-over and the book of "covenants" is as thick as a 'phone book.

Places with names including "Ridge" will be in a valley, 9 times out of 10.... and if the name has "Valley" in it, you will find it on a hill.

[motorworks]

Well NL has some of the best...
There is : Dildo and South Dildo which has Dildo Island
(you can take a boat tour of Dildo Island during the summer months.
And there is a big party called Dildo Days each summer..)
And that's not far from 'Come By Chance'
a little ways from 'Hearts Content' just over
from 'Blow me Down'. And we won't speak of 'Gay Side'

e2die
a proud NL'er

[John Stevenson]

A large number of medieval English Cities had streets named Gropec*nt Lane, where not surprisingly the ladies of the night plied their trade. None remain today after gradual cleaning up of street names over the centuries.

It's now been renamed.

[kwoodhands]

The "English Language" thread brings to mind a topic I've always found interesting: names of places and subdivisions, and such.

Very near me is a subdivision that has all the street names reflecting computers and/or software. Naturally, the main entrance is "Disc Drive." Been a few years since I drove through, so I don't recall many others, but they're all something like Ram Way, Floppy Drive, Memory Lane, etc.

One developer in this area named the streets in one of his developments for his family members. A daughter gave rise to "Lisa" street. Of particular interest was "Bubba" street. Not sure I'd want that for my address.

Southerners historically have seemed to go more for real down home, rustic names than most of the country. One of my favorites is the town of "Lick Skillet", Tennessee. Actually I think there are other Lick Skillets around the south.

Anybody got any unusual names in your area(s)? I would think the Brits would have some entertaining offerings. Probably Aussies too.

One local county road I like is "Butter and Egg Road." Not hard to imagine where that one came from.

Honest John Road in Estell Manor and No Name road both on rt 50 , in Southern NJ.

mike