I have always been interested in the names for small towns and communities. Some simply come from the founders surnames, and are usually rather conventional - the name, with ville or berg/burg/burgh or town/city attached.
Other names might reflect who occupied (notice I do not say "owned") the land first...until it was, er...shall we say, stolen by someone else... Sometimes the original names stay. Sometimes those names are replaced by the names of the second set of occupiers.
I live in Mississippi. We have many unusual place names. Some cover the obvious, as stated above - founder's surname, or sometimes his wife's name (always his wife, never her husband...), with something else attached, and the usual historical figures.
We have Flowood (a Jackson suburb) from founder Mr. Underwood's wife Florence, hence "Flowood". Or Mr. Hardy's wife, Hattie, which gives us "Hattiesburg".
Names with history aren't really strange, but intensely interesting. Here we have many Choctaw/Houma/Ofo/Chickasaw/Quapaua/Biloxi/Tunica/Natchez names that remain, and are attached to the respective towns of Natchez, Tunica, and Biloxi. Add to that lots of county names such as Chickasaw, Choctaw, Coahoma, Copiah, Issaquena, Itawamba, Neshoba, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, Yalobusha, and Yazoo.
And then there's Leflore County...I'm not really sure how I feel about it's namesake, Greenwood LeFlore (or actually, LeFleur). He is an enigma to me. Was an advocate for US citizenship for Native people (being of mixed race himself) but also signed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, and helped facilitate the subsequent Removal...
BTW, the state capitol, Jackson (yeah, thanks a lot, Andy...) was originally named LeFleur's Bluff.
Speaking of conquerors, I am choosing to pointedly ignore county names like Lamar or Forrest - where I grew up - because they have names of nasty-assed people, and sadly, their influence can still be felt...
We've got other folk's names attached also... Bolivar County (yep, it's that Bolivar; and as such, sort of one of the good guys) and De Soto County, and Lafayette County...
But the really fun part starts when you get to small towns, teeny-tiny towns and communities. That's where the names can get seriously unusual...
You can have a pronunciation thing with a perfectly legitimate name...How can Gautier sound logically French (as in pronounced Go-SHAY) and the nearby community of Saucier sounds like SO-sure when the locals say it?
But then you can have...
...Panther Burn. I think "burn" is Scottish for a creek or little river. That makes more sense than setting a large endangered feline on fire...
Alligator? Well, it is sort of close to the Mississippi River...
Chunky. That one is easy, but it would be like having a town named Football or Soccer. "Chunky" is a nickname for stickball...the little brother of war. Sort of the grandfather of lacrosse. Games can last for days. If you think rugby or football is tough, try stickball... (Go, Nukoachi! - that's our - championship, I might add - Mississippi team! Seriously - if you ever get a chance to attend one of these games, do it!)
Expose, Improve, and Arm (all in Marion County) Arm? Where is Leg?
Soso. Askew. Kiln. Midnight. Scooba. Onward. Hot Coffee. Cold Water.
Then there's Gin.. well, Whynot? And Hustler. And Hooker... But you need Cash...
These weird little names are all over the place. Even in Canada. We shipped a package last week to South Porcupine, Ontario...(Sounds like a Red Green town, doesn't it? Well, Mississippi does have Possumneck, but I don't think it has a Possum Lodge.)
And in my sort-of adopted "home" of Nova Scotia - they can't seem to come up with several separate names in any given (and rather large) area. I don't understand. I don't mind, but I don't understand...
For example, you've got Musquodoboit. That's fine. First Nations name - Micmaq, if I remember correctly. But then there's Upper Musquodoboit. And Middle Musquodoboit. And East Musquodoboit, Lower Musquodoboit, and West Musquodoboit...and if you're close enough to the coastline, you could add a Port Musquodoboit or Musquodoboit Harbor...
I wonder if Canada Post ever has trouble with making mistakes in mail delivery with these kinds of addresses?
Aahh, we talking, tool-using primates are an interesting bunch, are we not?
Well then, what does your state (or province) have to offer along the lines of weirdness? I know of Intercourse, Pennsylvania, and Hell, Michigan, and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico... Surely there are others. :-)
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Oh, wait. I forgot music...
How about early-mid 60s?
Swinging Medallions (thanks, anneli)
The Searchers
Junior Walker
The Zombies
Yardbirds
? and the Mysterians
And to honor those no longer with us... Sam & Dave (live, and a long version - absolute perfection...) with some pretty good sneaky bass playing from Donald "Duck" Dunn...RIP.
And Donna Summer also. Although I thankfully slept right through disco, she was a very talented lady. And I really do like this song.
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And especially Charlotte Lucas...you will always be a cherished diamond. May you find your journey easy... and maybe you heard a song, as in Frodo's dream...that seemed to come like a pale light behind a gray rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it was rolled back, and a far green country opened...under a swift sunrise... You will be missed. Blessed be.
