Strange & Silly Place Names in U.S. and Canada
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Examining some strange names for towns in the U.S. and Canada. There are a lot of videos and websites with stuff like this, so I avoided discussing the ones that show up on all lists about funny names. This video is family friendly so there aren't any references to vulgar names or ones with sexual connotations.
Two weird names in Louisiana are "Waterproof" and "Dry Prong". Waterproof got it's name because of the fact that it never flooded and Dry Prong got it's name because there was a prong of a creek that ran through that dried up seasonally. However, the best part of these two places is that some time in the 30's there was allegedly a newspaper article with the headline "Waterproof man drowns in Dry Prong Creek". Another interesting one is that there's a swamp called "Coochie Brake" which gets it's name from Ft. Coutier which was built there in the 1700's and brake being an old term for an overgrown swampy area.
Greatly appreciate and respect your decision to avoid the town names that everyone else has talked about for years. Well done.
Talking about intercourses Pa?
Mianus Connecticut?
I wasn't going to click on this video because I had heard it all before, but then I saw that the thumbnail had new interesting places.
How dare he not even mention Truth or Consequences (T or C) New Mexico. I’m so pissed.
@@somaahismail2698 there was a bakery in Intercourse, and their slogan was "I got my sticky buns from Intercourse" (available on T shirts back then). Sadly, it closed over 10 years ago.
The town name of Ixonia, WI was decided by pulling letters at random until they could be arranged them into a name. I think that’s pretty interesting and fun.
That's one I did not know. And it's a pretty cool word
That’s my theory about how they make medicine names
@@GeographyKing Not far too far from Ixonia, there's Vinnie Ha Ha. I have no idea how its name came about, but the Canadian town you mentioned reminded me of it.
I always heard that's what they named Canada. "C-eh?-N-eh?-D-eh?"
@@snoopy1837 EXACTLY
I find it hilarious that you also noticed the high number of silly place names in Kentucky. Every time I look at a map of KY I find another place to chuckle at. I grew up really close to "Tater Knob Tower" and "Twin Knobs." One of my high school friends, after telling me that he was gay, explained that he'd made plans to meet his online boyfriend for the first time at "Twin Knobs." We got a laugh out of that.
I don’t know if this is on the other lists you mentioned, but I always liked No Name, Colorado, just east of Glenwood Springs. In 1900, the state wanted to formalize place names, so they devised a form to be filled out by every town. This town couldn’t agree on a name, so they put “No Name” in the appropriate blank, meaning to make the decision at a later time. So that became the town’s official name.
Is that where No Name Steaks come from?
Hah, there's a sign on the interstate for no name
There's a No Road in Jacksonville, Florida.
Big Ugly is a place close to where I grew up in WV. I remember a wedding announcement in the local newspaper I used to deliver as a kid. On the social page page it said '' Beauty man to wed Big Ugly woman" . Beauty was a town in nearby Kentucky.
That's so funny, thank you for making my day. I know it's silly but I am laughing so hard I am crying.
In northern Iowa they have Fertile and Manly.
Surprised I never saw that on Leno!
This needs to be on Weekend Update.
I think I had mentioned Big Ugly WV to this guy before. I was once driving listening to a radio talk show when the host said "We have a Big Ugly woman on line one" about that time he realized what he said and cracked up as did I and probably a lot of other listeners.
I gotta throw in Zigzag, Oregon. The 420 crowd kept stealing the sign so they just quit putting it back up.
There's a town called "Poca" in West Virginia and their high school mascot is "the dots" so it sounds like "Polka Dots"
Almost as bad as Frankfort, Indiana where the high school mascot is the hot dogs.
I’m not sure if anyone knows about this. But in Michigan we have a town named Hell. It was named that because George Reeves was asked what he thought the town he helped settle should be called and replied "I don't care. You can name it Hell for all I care." The name became official on October 13, 1841.
A tickle is a small narrow inlet or strait. So Leading Tickles seems to imply a few such inlets leading to several more.
My favorite Newfoundland place names include Cow Head, Joe Batt’s Arm, Witless Bay, Come By Chance, and of course, Dildo.
Happy Valley-Goose Bay
I was born in Conception Bay in Newfoundland lol
There's also a Placentia in Newfoundland, similar to California.
Ferryland will always by dear to my heart
there is also Conception Bay South
@@butler-macdonald8351 Placentia in Newfoundland is old enough to have been named after the Palace of Placentia, known later on as Greenwich Palace in England.
There's a town in Ontario called Buckhorn. The B was easily changed to an F and a Y was added to the end. It was skilfully done.
Moose Jaw Saskatchewan should be on the list. I had 3 people in my college dorm in Montreal that were from there and learned all about it. Apparently it's the 'friendly city' and pretty big. Also Pigeon Forge TN near you deserves a mention.
Yep, I always thought Moose Jaw was funny and Pigeon Forge is my favorite place to vacation :)
I always liked Moose Factory, Ontario. Wish I get the chance to visit some day.
I listened to the comedians Bob and Ray on WOR-AM radio out out NYC back in the mid-1970s.... they had a tape they would play of a sports announcer (who seemed to be somewhat tipsy) announcing the baseball scores from the "Moose Jaw League." Years later, as part of a cross-country trip I aimed to drive to Moose Jaw from Vermont. When I got to the border, I was asked by the guards why I was coming into Canada. I told them the story about hearing about Moose Jaw on the radio and how I've wanted to go there ever since. After they pondered my information for a few minutes, they let me cross. But I never made it--after camping in Yellow Grass, SK, a huge thunderstorm sprung up in front of me on Rte. 39 and I had to turn around and high-tail it out of there before it caught up to me!
I got Bird-in-Hand, PA. Two Egg, FL. Mauch Chunk, PA ( now called Jim Thorpe)Always liked Moosejaw. Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded most of their music on Muscle Shoals. Always informative Mr Kyle.
Even sing about the Muscle Shoals Swampers in Sweet Home Alabama!
I went to school in Jim Thorpe. The locals hate when you call it Mauch Chunk, it's Native American for Big Rock. Some people will say otherwise, but that's what it really means.
A tickle is a narrow entrance to a harbour. You go "out through the tickle" to get into the bay from Glovertown, NL. Leading Tickles is like a town built at the outmost tickle of a series of narrow openings to a more protected harbour.
I've always thought the coolest name was Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump
Awhile back my family drove through Gas, Kansas. The kids asked where we were. Told them we just passed Gas. 😂
Lol! I immediately thought of that town too. We also have Moscow in western Kansas. I think that's west of Dodge City.
Hey Kyle! I recall a few years ago looking at more detailed maps of North Carolina and West Virginia. The funniest and oddest names. Those towns always sound like a place I would love to visit. Especially as they are primarily in the beautiful hilly and mountainous areas of the states...interesting video as usual.
Best viseo on RUclips dedicated to geography. Hello from Kansas 🇺🇸
Hello Kansas!
what's funny is I found other funny names in this video thru neighboring towns mentioned in the maps:
1:45 lower left "Finger" (TN), top left "Three Way" (TN)
2:10 lower right "California" (MO)
4:13 top left "Ajo" (AZ) means Garlic in Spanish
4:50 top right "Gore" (MI), mid left "Pigeon" (MI)
6:46 far left "Grassy Butte" (ND)
7:09 top far left "Moosic" (PA),
- far left "Drums" (PA)
7:32 lower middle "Knob Lick" (KY),
- far right "Pippa Passes" (KY),
- farthest right "Paw Paw" (KY/VA),
- far left "Slaughters" (KY) (I know it's hard to see, have patience)
9:07 mid left "Little Canada" (MN)
9:59 top mid left "Ninety Six" (SC)
There is the town of Dildo in Newfoundland and Labrador as well
@@chairmanlmao4482 Dildo (Newfoundland) is pretty Gay (Michigan). If one can’t have Intercourse (Pennsylvania), then Dildo (Newfoundland) can be an alternative. But, this lust of sinful behavior will send one to Hell (Michigan). It won’t be Boring (Oregon) like purgatory. That’s the Truth & Consequences (New Mexico). However, a Liberal (Kansas) would disagree with this.
@@jag92949 why (AZ)? or maybe the question is, whynot? (NC, MS)
Moosic PA is just a Suburb of Scranton, it's where they film that awful show called the office. I live about an hour from there.
@@slayer_starswirl If all goes wonky, you will have a Newborn (GA)
One of my favorites in Wisconsin is called Jim Falls. I hope he's alright.
Kyle, this subject must be continued. I’ve been to a couple of the places mentioned: Nanty Glo and Mexican Hat. But my all-time favorite obscure name is _Truth or Consequences, New Mexico_ . There is a generation of us which remember a TV gameshow for which this town adopted that name in 1949.
If I remember right, Bob Barker was the host
I have been to Meat Cove, Nova Scotia. The lore I was told is that the bay was used for the processing of whales after they were hunted and killed. This was back in the old days when that was a thing of course.
A few more in Nova Scotia:
Balls Creek
Denmark
Gays River
French Village (not a French speaking village)
McNutts Island (not actually a town)
Cape Negro
Shag Harbour
4:33 I grew up in nanty glo!! The towns next to it are Twin rocks (twin rock formation) and Vintondale. All old coal mining towns. Vintondale has the Eliza Furnace, one of the old smelters. There's also a biking/hiking trail that runs through the aforementioned towns and a few more. Awesome you added my small area. Nanty glo has about 2,000 people. Vintondale has about 200.
This might be the only RUclips channel where I actually drop whatever I am doing when a new video is uploaded, fantastic as always Kyle!
I spent 3 weeks at North, South Carolina in 1969, courtesy of the US Air Force during a training exercise. There's an abandoned WWII air field there.
Nice! I don't believe I've ever mentioned your obviously diverse taste in music. Just about every time we watch one of your presentations, I'm tempted to check & see if any of my LP's are missing. And today, it's Iron Butterfly. Awesome!
Thanks, that was bugging the crap outta me cause I couldn't see it clearly enough to tell who it was.
@@paulyeazel4668 And ya know, I find this to be one of the most entertaining channels on RUclips. Always something to 😃jar yer brain into thinking!
As a Truth or Consequencesian, I'm disappointed that you skipped my town.
Did you watch his intro? EVERYBODY who does lists like these knows about and covers your town.
I just moved to the Chattanooga Area early this year and Soddy-Daisy just makes me burst out laughing. Not at any of the local because this is the best area I have ever lived in.
It was actually two different towns before they incorporated as a single city. I think that the northern part of the city was the town “Soddy” and the southern part of the city was the town “Daisy”, but that’s conjecture based on where the Soddy and Daisy Elementary schools are located.
@@TNBuckeye1617 that's. cool, I like learning stuff like that. It just doesn't roll off the tongue very well so its funny to someone not accustomed to it. In a few years I will get accustomed to it.
While I was delighted to see you included Saint Louis de Ha! Ha! (I have heard a different origin story to the name from the Quebec government’s tourism literature btw), I was disappointed at many missed places names in Newfoundland. There is a Placentia in Newfoundland too. And who can forget the ever famous town of Dildo? There is actually an amusing song about Newfoundland place names called “Spend the Night in Dildo” (it’s perfectly G rated!). You can find it on RUclips easily!
Stab is where Ray Lewis lives lol
Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers, they’ve been known to pick a song or two.
I watched this while on a road trip from Los Angeles to Arkansas and it was dope. Keep up the good work.
If you make a part two to this video, you have to include Sugartit, KY! Though it’s now technically part of Florence, I’ve heard some urban legends about the history of this community and its name. Everyone today still lovingly refers to the area as Sugartit, especially now with the recent opening of Shorty’s Sugartit Pub!
Whenever I post on Facebook from there, the app adds the location as sugartit.
The name comes from the old poor south, where in lieu of candy they couldn't afford, Mom's put some sugar on a piece of cloth gathering it together and tying it shut for their kid's to sick on.There is (or rather was) a Sugar Tit, SC located west of Duncan. Till the 90's it was mostly just the name of the hardware store on the highway, but back when the area had a general store that handled mail for the Post Office, it was the official name of the community.
I here the people there suck.
My mom lived in Paducah, KY for years. I’ve actually been to Monkeys Eyebrow. Great video!
We have so many weird town names near Scranton, PA. To list a few: Forty Fort, Dupont, Moosic, Nanticoke, Exeter, Chinchilla, Sugar Notch, Meshoppen, Clarks Summit (it's in a valley)
Don't forget Throop, Jessup, Shickshinney, Wommels Dorf, Bushkill, Bird-In-Hand, Punxsatawney, Wyoming, Loyalsock, Steamtown, Plymouth, Ormrod, Jersey Shore, Dallas, Falls, Tunkhannock, Dushore, Noxen (inbred heaven 😂), even Wilkes-Barre sounds demented (because it is). Atleast Scranton sounds normal even though it's a rundown Hellhole.
There's also a Boring, Tennessee. I think it's named after the real-life Boring family (which is I think a variant of "Boren").
There was a list on a tshirt of all the Lancaster, PA area weird names I always liked (e.g. Blue Ball along with Intercourse & others.)
Pennsylvania has some really funny names. What makes them even funnier is the demographic that lives in them. They just don't seem to go together!
I once drove through St-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, on my way back from northern New Brunswick... Unfortunately, it was in the wee hours of the morning and there was so much fog, I only ever saw the road sign, which was enough for me to chuckle about all the way to Montreal!
Is there a joke to be made involving a trip from Knob Noster to Knockemstiff that was supposed to end in Intercourse, but unintentionally continued all the way to Placentia? Perhaps-but I’m not that childish.
(womp womp womp woooooomp)
There is a similar joke involving 4 towns in northern Minnesota. “If you’re taking EMILY to an OUTING, you’ll get to AITKIN before you get to REMER.”
I'm suprised that you didn't include Kill Devil Hills, South Carolina. But, still a great video Dude! 👍
Some others I like, Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw, Canada
There was a community near Florence, Kentucky called "Sugartit". Sadly, Sugartit never became incorporated & has been mostly annexed into Florence.
The way your mouth moves when you talk is mesmerizing.. Thanks for the good content my dude.
I wonder if there’s any towns out their where the founders purposefully just gave it a really weird meaningless name to confuse future inhabitants and anyone who happens to pass through it
Lizard Lick NC
Hell, MI
Ink, Arkansas -- the instructions on the form said write in ink
Keep it up. Can’t find videos under this genre anywhere else! Thanks Kyle
First ones I thought of were Bat Cave, NC, Slapout, AL, Christmas, AZ, and Nothing, AZ. Let's see how I do...
In Minnesota, there are quite a few: Sleepy Eye, Little Canada, Lac Qui Parle (in French: The Lake that Laughs), Yellow Medicine, Fertile, Temperance River, Castle Danger, Nimrod, Pillager, Embarrass, and so on.
I don't know where, but I heard that "Why" couldn't be called "Y" becuase there was a law banned town names shorter than 3 letters.
Here's another one - Good Grief, ID sits a few miles from the U.S./Canada border. It's an unincorporated "town", but is recognized with a Google marker as though it is an actual town.
Here in Northeastern Arkansas there is a tiny community in between the towns of Paragould and Brooklyn off of highway 49 called “Goobertown.” It always gave me and my dad a good laugh.
and the classic old Weiner
Are residents of Yuma known as Yumans? Are inhabitants of Santa Barbara referred to as Santa Barbarians?
As a child, I listened to the radio (there was no TV) show called Lum and Abner - so it makes sense to me.
Flin Flon, Manitoba is the birthplace of the Philadelphia Flyers' great ice hockey player Bobby Clarke. There's a town in New Jersey called Ho-Ho-Kus.
Just recently came across your channel and I’m pretty addicted. Keep it up!
Thank you and Welcome to the channel!
I will never forget the day I was driving on I-70 in Missouri and I see a sign on it that says “Knob Noster”
There is a community in Pontotoc Co. Oklahoma called Happyland. Not the oddest of names, but almost the only thing you see of the town is a water tower with "HAPPYLAND" writ in bold, seemingly in the middle of absolute nowhere.
Here's some from my home state of Minnesota- Assumption, Ball Club, Blue Earth, Castle Danger, Clam Falls, Clapper, Climax, Cologne, Coon Rapids, Embarrass, Good Thunder, Little Canada, Little Chicago, Long Siding, Nimrod, Sleepy Eye, Twig and Winner.
GOOBIES!!! I had a flat tire in Goobies once. It's between the big city St. John's, NF and my aunt's home in Briggus, NF. Funny thing is, there's two other towns with odd names less than an hour from Goobies. Come By Chance, NF (named after nearby Chance Cove) and Dildo, NF.
Not to mention Cockschutt and Balls Falls, both in Ontario, Canada.
Picabo, Idaho. Yes, the former Olympic skier, Picabo Street, was named after this small farming community near Sun Valley.
I don't know if you've mentioned this before, but I live near a section of my town called Toad Suck, AR.
I never believed that was a real place, but it sure is. Lol, I vote Toad Suck as wildest and craziest town name, for sure.
I grew up near Buttzville, NJ and have also driven past SHartlesville, PA on the way to moving to Tennessee.
Do you suppose they raise cattle in Bovina, TX? (many odd names in the Texas Panhandle) I love your work, sir. Keep it up! I've lived & worked in 11 different states and have always paid attention to & delighted in the stuff you so obviously enjoy. Ron in Huntsvle AL.
There is a Frostproof, FL and a Christmas, FL
There is also Fivay, FL, which has since been absorbed by surrounding localities. Five men whose last name began with the letter “A” settled there and built a sawmill about 45 minutes north of Tampa in the early 1900s.
You could have done an hour on Newfoundland....half the outports have goofy names. And Nova Scotia isn't far off. Shubenacadie, Antigonish....plus all the goofy names in Western Canada that are out there.....
Not sure about how many silly names there are in western Canada. Many towns in western Canada are named after explorers or indians.
@@Peglegkickboxer Medicine Hat? Flin Flon, Moose Jaw? Those are not weird names? They don't seem that way to Canadians....but I know people outside of Canada find them weird and amusing
@@marklittle8805 I can seen flin Flon since it's named after a comic book character from like 100 years ago but medicine hat and moose jaw are translated indian names. I guess from an outsider with no context it makes sense ( like Red Deer, Yellowknife, Whitehorse, etc).
@@PeglegkickboxerNative name or not they are unusual names. And neither is just some little crossroads village or outport. Both are decent sized towns.
Most of the wacky names are a lot smaller
@@marklittle8805 I think maybe it's because the towns I mentioned are a national and cultural thing that's consistent across the country. Most cities in Canada are just named after an explorer, an Indian term, or a rename of a European city. A lot of the names of towns in America mentioned in the video seem out of place and random. Just my perspective as a Canadian.
I went to the small town or Gay, Michigan a couple summers ago. The sign on the outskirts of town, which simply read, "Gay," had a notice posted underneath it that there was a $500 reward on offer to anyone who helped to catch anyone who had vandalized or stolen the sign
Arkansas has quite a few well-known ones. I've been to Bald Knob and Weiner. There's also Toad Suck and Possum Grape.
Also Strawberry, AR
I'm so happy you mentioned Knockemstiff, Ohio. I live near by there and my company does a lot of work for farmers in that area. It's also not too far from Pee Pee Creek!
I used to live in Chattanooga - lived in Mountain Shadows… my chiropractor was located in Soddy Daisy and then in Red Bank
Seems like folks used to have more of a humorous outlook about these things. Can you imagine some developer today giving a goofy name to one of their projects?
Spread Eagle Wisconsin. It’s right over the border, west of iron Mountian Michigan on hwy 2, unincorporated, & pretty much the only thing I remember being in the place is an exotic dance club. How perfect is that?
Those exotic dance clubs like unincorporated towns since they don't have town laws prohibiting them. Kyle mentioned Boring, Oregon. There they have the Boring Tavern which is also an exotic dance club.
There is also a Lickskillet Road in Boulder, CO. It's unpaved and about a 16% gradient straight up the side of a mountain.
Made it first this time
Not read all the comments, so don’t know if this has already been pointed out, nanty glo is spelt nant-y-glo in Wales so not so ridiculously sounding, the y pronounced as ‘e’, my husband and I love your channel and look forward to going to some of the places you have spoken about when crossing the Atlantic when things are more normal.
With Why, AZ, Arizona state law at some point said that all official place names had to have at least 3 letters, hence “Why”
I live in Soddy Daisy. Originally, there was two sperate towns that joined into one.
"Make your nanty shine with Nanty Glo" legit made me pause this just to stop laughing before I went on.
I lived in Cleveland, TN for awhile so very familiar with Soddy-Daisy. It's a pretty area there
I live less than 20 miles from Hell, MI. It's a nice swamp to visit, but it's tough to hang around there in mosquito season.
In Northwestern North Carolina near the Smoky Mountains, there are two small towns named Luck and Trust.
I used to live in Fullerton, CA, right next to Placentia. All the locals (in my age group, anyway) called it Placenta. I even did deliveries there. I have also been to Mexican Hat on our tour of the Utah National Parks.
In Georgia we have : Social Circle and Flowery Branch ...which sound very sweet ..and they ARE both nice little small towns
Cant believe you forgot about Truth or Consequences, NM
A Sarah McLaughlin Easter Egg - Nova Scotia’s biggest musical star 😂 - nice one Kyle
Ah! Thanks for answering my question! 👍
Show Low, Arizona - allegedly named after an all-night poker match. Authorities eventually demanded that they "show low" and declare a winner.
Cowlick AZ. I don't think it's on the maps anymore, but was there about 25 years ago in a DeLorme Gazetteer published in the early 1990's. It was near the southern border and west of Tucson.
"Hey wasn't you the guy from Stab?" - "ME? No, i am from Zap" (walks away angry)
I remember seeing in Newfoundland that there are two nearby streets called This Way and That Way. I don't remember which town they're in.
We love your Nerdy takes and watch all the time. Keep up the good work and Happy New Year!!
Thank you!
Luck, Wisconsin. A road race I ran in was called “In and out of luck”
New Town, ND was originally supposed to be named Vanish, a portmanteau of the towns of Van Hook and Sanish, which are both now at the bottom of Lake Sakakawea.
The former Dakota town of Lebeau also sits beneath the water......
Living out West I flew (in a private plane) over Mexican Hat several times. Didn’t know where the name came from - till now.
Regarding the meaning of Lick Skillet, I have no idea if this is relevant, but it's the only other appearance of the term that I've seen: I use to work for Six Flags over GA amusement park (it was my first job in 1977), and back then, one of the sections was a replica of an old Western Town. The name of that section was "The Lick Skillet" It was kind of funny even then, because the Sky Buckets ride had one of the stations in the Lick Skillet, and employees used to call that station, "The Lick Buckets!" I have no idea why to this day. But maybe that expression had a meaning in old pioneer towns that's just lost on us today.
Bravo sir, thanks for the Michigan shout out - next door is Ubly, MI
I've counted nearly 90 odd town names in Texas. Some are ghost towns (e.g.., Nameless) but we also have Rifle Barrel, Dime Box, Oatmeal, and many more. Take a look. There's quite a story about how Nameless, TX got its name.
In VA: Bumpass, Cuckoo, Wingina
In NC: Bat Cave, Lizard Lick, Climax, High Point - a sign at an exit off U.S. 220 shows one way to Climax and the other way to High Point
Gas Kansas: The tiny town sits along U.S. Hwy 54, and it is said, "IF YOU BLINK YOU'LL PASS GAS".
There are a lot of funny short town names in the appalachians in southern West Virginia. Places like Man, Odd, Pool, Beard, Droop and then places like Cucumber and Sam Black Church
Pennsylvania has Blue Ball and Turkey Foot. Also there are some strangely named townships (Moon and Mars).