In all my traveling, I’ve heard of towns with somewhat peculiar names. In some cities, there are street names that are highly uninventive. For instance, if you go to Atlanta, GA and someone tell you that they’re on PeachTree, be absolutely sure that that you have a GPS and they give you the exact latitude and longitude; there are 71 streets with the word “PeachTree” in them.
In Phoenix, AZ, there are over 30 completely different streets called “N. 38th Avenue.” Try using Google for “North 38th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona” and it will point to one of them (it seems to choose a random point on one of the N 38th Avenues just north on West Glendale Avenue.) Scroll north or south and you will find dozens more. In some cases, one of the North 38th Avenues comprises only a small part of the street, and spontaneously renames itself at one point.
As for the town names, highlights would include
- Hell in Michigan, USA. Hence you can actually go to Hell!!
- Fucking, Austria
- Disappointment, Kentucky
- Shitterton, Dorset, England
- Horneytown, North Carolina
- Middelfart, Denmark
- Toad Suck, Arkansas
- Hookersville, West Virginia
- Whiskey Dick Mountain, Washington
- Cockup, Cumbria, England
- Bald Knob, Arkansas
- Spread Eagle, Wisconsin
- Wetwang, Yorkshire, England
- Gravesend, Kent, England
- Thong, Kent, England
- Titty Hill, Sussex, England
- Looneyville, Texas
- Muff, Ireland
- Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, New Zealand
- Twatt, Orkney, Shetland Islands, Scotland
- Cockburn, Western Australia
However no other place on the planet seems to have crazier names for places than the province of Newfoundland & Labrador. Also I can’t think of a single place where I saw more lighthouses!
You can find places with crazy names like
- Tickle Cove
- Witless Bay
- Conception Bay
- Random
- Blow me Down
- Come by Chance
- Quidi Vidi
- and the king of them all … Dildo.
It’s not that anyone seems to be shy about using it; there is also South Dildo, Dildo Pond and Dildo Island. The name may have had its origins in the Spanish port of Bilbao, or it may come from the Portuguese, or the native Indians. But no one really knows and no one really cares. I’m sure the locals have heard it all. A while back, a proposal to change the town’s name was strongly voted down.
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