Travel 67 Small Towns That Make You Wonder Where They Got Their Names By Southern Living Editors Southern Living Editors Since 1966, the editors of Southern Living have been carrying out the mission of the brand: to bring enjoyment, fulfillment, and inspiration to our readers by celebrating life in the South. We inspire creativity in their homes, their kitchens, their gardens, and their personal style. We are a friend they can trust, a guide to the seasons, a helping hand during the holidays, and a relentless champion of the Southern way of life. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on June 30, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Ron_Thomas/Getty Images Drive through any corner of the South, and you'll be surprised by what you see on our signs. Visit Virginia, and you may pass through Dragonville. Take a trip to Texas, and you may find yourself in Oatmeal. There are countless small towns here that will make you scratch your head and wonder where their unexpected names came from. From Possum Grape, Arkansas (a possum grape is a fruit vine native to North America), to Frankenstein, Missouri (named for the Franken family, allegedly, not the Mary Shelley book), there are plenty of towns south of the Mason-Dixon that will spark your curiosity in an instant. We know some of the origin stories of our place names, and some speak for themselves—Corn, Oklahoma, for example. Lots of place names come from agriculture, the landscape, historical markers, and natural features like springs, waterfalls, and rivers. Still more are named for families in the community or values the community shares. A few still leave visitors scratching their heads, and those are the ones with origin stories that even locals can't agree on. We've collected some of our favorite surprising Southern small town names here, but we certainly haven't included them all. It's a big region, filled with countless unusual place names. So tell us your favorites, and celebrate the uniqueness of Southern nomenclature with us. 01 of 67 Accident, Maryland Southern Living We've heard that residents of Accident are called "Accidentals." 02 of 67 Bell Buckle, Tennessee Southern Living This small town is named after Bell Buckle Creek, near which the town was founded. 03 of 67 Burnt Corn, Alabama Southern Living Few agree on the origin of this name, but some think that it involved a campfire made of corn. 04 of 67 Corn, Oklahoma Southern Living This town was settled near a cornfield, hence the name. 05 of 67 Cricket, North Carolina Southern Living Your guess is as good as ours, but we bet it has to do with crickets. 06 of 67 Coffee Springs, Alabama Southern Living Coffee Springs is one of many Alabama towns with unusual names. It was named for the nearby springs and for General John Coffee who once camped at the springs. 07 of 67 Coward, South Carolina Southern Living Perhaps named for the Coward family, this small town is located in Florence County. 08 of 67 Cucumber, West Virginia Southern Living Named for the area's cucumber trees (a type of magnolia) or the nearby Cucumber Creek, this place name is truly unique. It's the only community in the U.S. with the name of Cucumber. 09 of 67 Dice, Kentucky Southern Living Any ideas? We're thinking this is of game-piece origin, but it also may have come from an English family name. 10 of 67 Ding Dong, Texas Southern Living A mural painted in the 1930s bearing the phrase "Ding Dong" supposedly gave this town on the Lampasas River its onomatopoetic name. 11 of 67 Doorway, Kentucky Southern Living While obscure, we sure do like this Perry County name. 12 of 67 Dragonville, Virginia Southern Living This spot was named after a town across the Atlantic—an English hamlet called Dragonville in County Durham. 13 of 67 Eggville, Mississippi Southern Living We'd expect someone in this town—once the top egg producer in Lee County—to have one killer deviled egg recipe. 14 of 67 Empress, Georgia Southern Living While Georgia itself was named for England's King George II, this little town was not to be outdone. 15 of 67 Eureka Springs, Arkansas Southern Living This town got its name after a eureka! moment of new settlers discovering the town's local springs, which were known as the Great Healing Springs by Native Americans. 16 of 67 Experiment, Georgia Southern Living This small town was named after the University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station that's located there. 17 of 67 Fame, Mississippi Southern Living Fame is in good company. Other creative Mississippi place names include Panther Burn, Gin, Christmas, and Whynot. 18 of 67 Fame, West Virginia Southern Living This particular Fame is a small town in Pendleton County, West Virginia. 19 of 67 Flippen, Georgia Southern Living Local lore says this fun-to-say town name came from a railroad worker, Mr. Flippen. 20 of 67 Frankenstein, Missouri Southern Living While first glance would tell you this spot was named for the doctor in Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein, it was actually named for the area's Franken family. 21 of 67 Friendsville, Maryland Southern Living Everything's friendlier in Friendsville. 22 of 67 Fries, Virginia Southern Living With a population of only 484, this little spot started out as a mill town in the mountains. 23 of 67 Ginger Blue, Missouri Southern Living This town name is so catchy, a musical group better adopt it ASAP. 24 of 67 Goat City, Tennessee Southern Living Tennessee town names range from the understandable, like Goat City, to the personal, like Edith, and also from the descriptive, like Difficult, to the downright festive, like Disco. 25 of 67 Goodnight, Texas Southern Living This town name was adopted by a band. Goodnight, Texas, is a place you can visit and a band with music you can enjoy. 26 of 67 Greasy Corner, Arkansas Southern Living This locale was originally named Mack's Corner, but, supposedly, a spot of grease changed the name, and it stuck. 27 of 67 Happyland, Oklahoma Southern Living Who wouldn't want to live in Happyland? 28 of 67 Hazard, Kentucky Southern Living Hazard was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, a commodore in the U.S. Navy who fought in the War of 1812. 29 of 67 Hopeulikit, Georgia Southern Living This name apparently originated from a beloved 1920s dance hall once located in the area. 30 of 67 Ketchuptown, South Carolina Southern Living This spot got its name from an area store where locals would meet to chat and "catch up." The store came to be called Ketchup Town, and the town name followed. 31 of 67 Lick Skillet, Tennessee Southern Living Legend has it that this town got its name from—what else?—licking skillets. The last person to arrive to dinner or to a campground is left licking the skillet to satisfy their hunger, or so the saying goes. 32 of 67 Lizard Lick, North Carolina Southern Living Apparently local lizards were brought in to put a dent in the area's insect problems. Or perhaps a passerby saw a group of lizards sunning themselves. Either way, lizards gave this North Carolina town its unusual name. 33 of 67 Locust, North Carolina Southern Living This North Carolina town takes its inspiration from the locust tree. To name the town, a resident suggested "Locust Level." So it was called until the word "level" was dropped years later. 34 of 67 Loving, Oklahoma Southern Living This spot was named after the surname Loving; this one in particular belonged to locals John and Amanda Loving. 35 of 67 Lulu, Florida Southern Living Legend has it that the namesake for this town was the love interest of the town's first postmaster. 36 of 67 Lucky, Louisiana Southern Living Residents here must be a little more fortunate than the rest. 37 of 67 Marmaduke, Arkansas Southern Living Sorry to disappoint, but this town isn't named for the comic strip character. It's named after John Sappington Marmaduke, a former governor of Missouri. 38 of 67 Money, Mississippi Southern Living This one was also named after a person. Hernando Money, a U.S. Senator from Mississippi, to be precise. 39 of 67 Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky Southern Living Perhaps the most memorable of all, this town's name still leaves us scratching our heads. Locals say it was named Monkey's Eyebrow because either A. the county resembles a monkey's head and the town is located where the eyebrow would be, or B. viewed from a nearby ridge, the town resembles the aforementioned monkey's eyebrow. 40 of 67 Okay, Arkansas Southern Living This town name came from a local business—an area cement plant that produced "OK" brand cement. 41 of 67 Oatmeal, Texas Southern Living Most think that this town name was derived from a resident's name—a Mr. Othneil—not, surprisingly, the breakfast food made of oats. 42 of 67 Niceville, Florida Southern Living Sugar and spice and everything nice, this town name was chosen by the daughter of the local postman. 43 of 67 Okay, Oklahoma Southern Living This small-town name also originated from a small-town business—the OK Truck Manufacturing Company (which is, incidentally, the abbreviation for Oklahoma). 44 of 67 Oronogo, Missouri Southern Living This town was first named Minersville, and when the time came to change it because there was another Missouri town with the same name, one resident said, "It's 'Ore' or no go." Running with the idea, the town landed on Oronogo, a decidedly memorable moniker. 45 of 67 Paw Paw, West Virginia Southern Living This town shares its name with the nearby Paw Paw Tunnel, also the native, Southern-favorite paw-paw tree. 46 of 67 Possum Grape, Arkansas Southern Living The name Possum Grape was supposedly the result of a compromise between residents who wanted the name to be "Possum" and "Grape." Also, possum grape is the name of a vine indigenous to North America. 47 of 67 Pumpkin Center, North Carolina Southern Living There are plenty of towns in the U.S. named Pumpkin Center, including those in Oklahoma, California, and Indiana. File Pumpkin Center under town names that make us hungry. 48 of 67 Sallisaw, Oklahoma Southern Living French traders gave this place its name. "Sallisaw" is from the French salaison, which roughly translates to "salt meat." 49 of 67 Scratch Ankle, Alabama Southern Living We've heard that this name came from locals scratching the insect bites on their ankles. We believe it. Those summertime mosquito bites are no joke. 50 of 67 Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee Southern Living There are countless origin stories for this name, which is the joining together of two separate community names. Some think that "Soddy" came from William Sodder, the owner of a local trading post, and "Daisy" was the name of a coal company manager's daughter. 51 of 67 Spiderweb, South Carolina Southern Living Another place name pulled from the natural world. This one might make you shiver, though. 52 of 67 Spuds, Florida Southern Living This area has historically been a big producer of potatoes. Is there any surprise that it's called Spuds? 53 of 67 Static, Kentucky and Tennessee Southern Living This small town lives on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, hence the dual addresses. 54 of 67 Sweet Lips, Tennessee Southern Living While the name is obscure (and pretty catchy), locals claim this town name comes from the idea that sips from the local creek are sweet. 55 of 67 Tarzan, Texas Southern Living We bet you can guess this one. This small town was named after the fictional, jungle-going Tarzan character. It was named during the height of Tarzan's novel and comic strip popularity. 56 of 67 The Bottle, Alabama Southern Living No surprises here. The Bottle was inspired by an actual bottle building. John Williams, the owner of Nehi Bottling Co., built a 64-foot-tall structure that resembled a Nehi bottle. While the building burned, the name lives on. 57 of 67 Thunderbolt, Georgia Southern Living This small town received its name when a lightning strike formed the local freshwater spring—allegedly. 58 of 67 Toast, North Carolina Southern Living The origins of this place name are a mystery. It was supposedly suggested by the employees of the local post office, and we'd like to think it's an homage to a buttered slice of toasted bread. 59 of 67 Two Egg, Florida Southern Living This spot also has conflicting accounts of its origins. Our favorite: Someone dropped two eggs, inspiring the moniker. However, some say that during the Great Depression, eggs were often traded for other wares at the area country store, inspiring the name. 60 of 67 Uncertain, Texas Southern Living The story of Uncertain is not so uncertain. When applying for township, this community's residents wrote "Uncertain" in the field asking for the name of the town. Once the wheels of bureaucracy turned, the town was officially designated Uncertain. 61 of 67 Waldo, Florida Southern Living Where's Waldo? Florida, that's where. 62 of 67 War, West Virginia Southern Living This West Virginia town is named for nearby War Creek. 63 of 67 Waterproof, Louisiana Southern Living The location of this town changed three times, moving miles to avoid the rising Mississippi floodwaters. The issue of flooding also led to the construction of a levee around the town. After some work, it's truly become waterproof. 64 of 67 Wealthy, Texas Southern Living True story: This town was originally named Poor until popular opinion demanded a name change. 65 of 67 Whynot, North Carolina Southern Living Picture it: Residents couldn't decide on a name, so someone suggested, "Why not name it 'Why Not'?" It stuck, becoming Whynot forevermore. 66 of 67 Wise, Virginia Southern Living This spot is named for Henry A. Wise, a former Virginia governor. 67 of 67 Yeehaw Junction, Florida Southern Living On the spectrum of Southernness, this place name is supremely Southern. It was named either for the classic shout "Yeehaw!" or the nearby Yeehaw Station of the Florida East Coast Railway. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit