Unusual Origins of Town Names (neighborhood, bars, beach)
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Germfask, in Upper Michigan, was named by the 8 original settlers, whose surnanes started with G E R M F A S K, and that was tthe only pronounceable combination.
Baton Rouge is Red Stick in French. Red sticks with the heads of natives on them were stuck into the levee to mark territorial boundaries. They were covered in blood. I don't know how true that is though.
The City of Yonkers, which means "Young Lord" in Dutch (originally Yonkheer), was named in 1645 for Adriaen van der Donck, who was granted the land while still in his 20s.
Known as the “Gateway to Long Beach Island,” the Borough of Ship Bottom gets its name from a shipwreck in March 1817. The accident left just one survivor, a young woman who was rescued from the hull of the overturned schooner by an ax-wielding boat captain.
" Due to the prevalence of ptarmigan in the area, that name was suggested as the official name for the new community. However, the spelling could not be agreed on, and "Chicken" was used to avoid embarrassment."
Learn to spell and your community will have a cool name.
If your ever in the neighborhood of Chicken, Alaska well worth the trip as a destination spot.
"Railroad magnate John I. Blair hosted an excursion to the new town, which was then called St. Paul Junction because of its 1871 connection to St. Paul on the nascent Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad. Blair asked the women in the party to name the town, and they submitted an acronym based upon their first names' initials: Lucy Ford and Laura Walker, Ellen Cleghorn or Elizabeth Underhill, Martha Weare and Mary Weare, Adeline Swain, Rebecca Smith and Sarah Reynolds. (Note that some letters represent more than one person.)"
"Railroad magnate John I. Blair hosted an excursion to the new town, which was then called St. Paul Junction because of its 1871 connection to St. Paul on the nascent Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad. Blair asked the women in the party to name the town, and they submitted an acronym based upon their first names' initials: Lucy Ford and Laura Walker, Ellen Cleghorn or Elizabeth Underhill, Martha Weare and Mary Weare, Adeline Swain, Rebecca Smith and Sarah Reynolds. (Note that some letters represent more than one person.)"
This is similar to Wimauma, FL. According to Wikipedia, "Wimauma was founded by Captain C.H. Davis in 1902. Davis named the town using the first few letters of the names of his daughters Will, Maude, and Mary."
Electra, Texas, was renamed in honor of Electra Waggoner, heiress to the surrounding estate. But Electra's niece, also named Electra, becane a noted artist, and an in-law of the head of General Motora. He named the Buick Electra after her, which carried the nane for decades.
Oxon Hill, Maryland. An area just outside of DC. Most think it's named after an animal, oxen, but is named after Oxford, England.
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