67 Small Towns That Make You Wonder Where They Got Their Names
From towns named after local myths to pop-culture icons, the South has it all.
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Accident, Maryland
We’ve heard that residents of Accident are called “Accidentals.”
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Bell Buckle, Tennessee
This small town is named after Bell Buckle Creek, near which the town was founded.
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Burnt Corn, Alabama
Few agree on the origin of this name, but some think that it involved a campfire made of corn.
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Corn, Oklahoma
This town was settled near a cornfield, hence the name.
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Cricket, North Carolina
Your guess is as good as ours, but we bet it has to do with crickets.
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Coffee Springs, Alabama
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.
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Coward, South Carolina
Perhaps named for the Coward family, this small town is located in Florence County.
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Cucumber, West Virginia
Named for the area’s cucumber trees or the nearby Cucumber Creek, this place name is truly unique. It’s the only spot in the U.S. with the name of Cucumber.
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Dice, Kentucky
Any ideas? We’re thinking this is of game-piece origin.
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Ding Dong, Texas
A mural painted in the 1930s bearing the phrase “Ding Dong” supposedly gave this town its onomatopoetic name.
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Doorway, Kentucky
While obscure, we sure do like this one.
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Dragonville, Virginia
This spot was named after a town across the Atlantic—an English hamlet called Dragonville in County Durham.
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Empress, Georgia
While Georgia itself was named for England’s King George II, this little town was not to be outdone.
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Eureka Springs, Arkansas
This town got its name after a eureka! moment of discovering the town’s local springs.
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Experiment, Georgia
This small town was named after the University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station that’s located there.
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Fame, Mississippi
Fame is in good company. Other creative Mississippi place names include Panther Burn, Gin, Christmas, and Whynot.
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Fame, West Virginia
This particular Fame is a small town in Pendleton County, West Virginia.
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Flippen, Georgia
This fun-to-say town name is probably related to a variant of the name Philip.
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Frankenstein, Missouri
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.
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Friendsville, Maryland
Everything’s friendlier in Friendsville.
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Fries, Virginia
With a population of only 484, this little spot started out as a mill town in the mountains.
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Ginger Blue, Missouri
This town name is so catchy, a musical group better adopt it ASAP.
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Goat City, Tennessee
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.
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Goodnight, Texas
This town name was adopted by a band. Goodnight, Texas, is a place you can visit and a band with music you can enjoy.
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Greasy Corner, Arkansas
This locale was originally named Mack’s Corner, but, supposedly, a spot of grease changed the name, and it stuck.
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Happyland, Oklahoma
Who wouldn’t want to live in Happyland?
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Hazard, Kentucky
Hazard was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, a commodore in the U.S. Navy who fought in the War of 1812.
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Hopeulikit, Georgia
This name apparently originated from a beloved 1920s dance hall once located in the area.
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Ketchuptown, South Carolina
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.