Real City Name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

By John Kuykendall

If you read my column very often, you know I like to read and write about dumb crooks and other crazy things. I’m just wierd that way. The other day, the thought raced through my mind that I would like to know some of the weirdest names for cities and how they came into existence. So, I began researching and I’m sharing this with you and most of it you probably are going to wonder if it is for real.
What I found out was that various factors came into play when most cities were named. When I found out some of the weirdest city names I couldn’t stop myself from writing about them.
There is a city in Texas named Ding Dong. That’s right. According to what I found out, the city was founded by brothers Zulius and Bert Bell. According to what I found on the Internet, the brothers owned a general store and hired a painter to make a sign. He painted two signs with bells, one for each brother, and under the bells he wrote ding and dong. So, that became the name of the town.
There is a city in Kentucky name Rabbit Hash. According to what I found out about the town is was originally named Carlton, after settler James Carlton. However, the city was renamed after a flood struck the town and drove rabbits to higher ground. According to the Internet, a resident proclaimed there would be plenty of “rabbit hash,” and the name of the city was changed.
There is a city in New Mexico named Truth or Consequences. The city was originally named Hot Springs, again so the Internet says. However, in 1950 a radio station decided to have a publicity stunt for its radio game show, you guess it, Truth or Consequences. The show was hosted by a gentleman named Ralph Edwards, who proposed to air a special broadcast for the first town to be named after the show. Hot Springs jumped at the opportunity, and almost overnight, the city became named “Truth or Consequences.”
There are so many others. In Maryland there is a city named “Accident.”
This one makes we smile every time I even think about it. “Chicken, Alaska.”
The folks in Pennsylvania back in the day must have either a strange sense of humor or some, well let’s say, some interesting thoughts. There is a city in the state and an unincorporated area with interesting names, “Intercourse and Climax.” Intercourse is a city and Climax is an unincorporated area.
There is a city in Texas that I love because it sounds like the old, old, West. The town is named “Cut and Shoot.” Now I really wanted to see how this town got it’s name and you will never believe what the Internet reports. Of course, we all know we can believe everything we read on the Internet. Yeah, right. However, the Internet says that there was a confrontation in the town and it was possibly over a church dispute (key word here: possibly.) The information also says the town got its name when in 1912 a young boy was quoted as saying, “I’m going to cut around the corner and shoot through the bushes in a minute.” So, if you believe it that quote stuck with the resident of the city and it became the name of the town.
Well, one day I want to check “Hell.” Yep, that’s the name of a town in Michigan. Again according to the Internet, the town reportedly got its name from what is a few different theories, one of which involves founder George Reeves reportedly saying, “Name it Hell for all I care,” when asked what to name the settlement he helped start, and another which suggests the area’s harsh conditions (wetlands and mosquitoes) led to the “hellish” nickname.
So, if you think these names in the Unites States are crazy, the name of this town in Wales has to be the craziest. The town is named, “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.” Don’t ask me to pronounce that. But the Internet says translated it means, “”Church of St Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St Tysilio’s of the red cave.”
Well, that’s enough craziness for this week. But check in I’m sure I’ll find more wierd things to write about.