Hey, pretty smoky around here.
Pot Head Maine, Washington County
A headland shaped like a pot, I assume.
Hey, pretty smoky around here.
Pot Head Maine, Washington County
A headland shaped like a pot, I assume.
And even when they moved the town they kept the Peculiar Name.
Peculiar Missouri, Cass County.
Proud of their uniqueness, maybe?
Not far from Mickey Lake and Minnie Corners.
Goofy Ridge Illinois, Mason County
Humor, foreign name, comment, who knows?
Charlie Brown was here!
Good Grief Idaho, Boundary County
Someone being funny, I guess.
OK, not going there.
Bad Marriage Mountain, Glacier National Park Montana
Hard to even hazard a guess.
Oh, Crapo, we’re supposed to swim in that?
Crapo Lake, Otsego County Minnesota
Probably from the French word for toad, which is “crapaud.”
Murderkill River, Delaware, Kent County.
Kinda “overkill” I think! The riverside hamlet of “Little Heaven” is a nice touch.
“Kill” endings refer to streams, and murder probably meant just that.
Which name would be better for our new subdivision?
Maggotty Creek, joining Stinking River, in Pittsylvania County VA
Origin: Maggotty may be a surname, river probably was stinking (dead fish, or sulpher, or something like that?).
How do funny place names happen?
We’ve all seen funny place names (and if you want to see more, this blog is the right place).
But how do these places get these names?
There are many ways but I thought I would hit a few that explain many of the ones I have shown maps of here:
I hope this is of some value to you as you look at my map excerpts and comments! Yell if you can think of other reasons.
Tim Hilliard
This a tough hill to climb.
Bitch Mountain, Essex County, New York
Origin: Likely something involving a female dog.
Man, it’s easy to get an “A” here!
Slack School, Wyoming, Sheridan County
Origin: From someones name, possibly?
We don’t need any mental health professionals around here.
Self Help Hollow, Idaho, Franklin County
Origin: Some incident I guess.
They must film horror movies around here.
Screamer Alabama, Henry County
Origin: Settlers heard weird noises, possibly?
The acoustics are great here, man!
Rock Roll Canyon, Idaho, Blaine County
Origin: Rocks were rolling?
Aren’t you a bit old to be a Girl Scout, miss?
Old Maid Gulch in Girl Scouts Reservation, Wyoming, Washakie County
Origin: Named after an early resident who wasn’t married?