Have You Ever Been to Center of the World? Quiz

Answer: California

Located in northern California where the north and south forks of the Salmon River converge, the town is aptly named. The California Gold Rush brought settlers here in the mid-nineteenth century. A tributary to the Klamath River, the Salmon River is nineteen miles long. There is another Salmon River farther north in Idaho.

Answer: North Carolina

Named for the various species of bats that inhabit the world's longest granite fissure cave on Blue Rock Mountain, the 186-acre Bat Cave Preserve is located in western North Carolina near the city of Asheville. The small town has several shops, motels, and restaurants. It even has its own fire department. The cave, however, is not open to the public.

Answer: Ohio

This small community was founded by Randall Wilmot, a New York businessman. He decided on the name in an effort to attract investors to promote growth in the community. It didn't work out as planned. Nowadays, a handful of houses and shops are all that's left of this community located in northeastern Trumbull County.

Answer: Alaska

One doesn't usually associate chickens with the state of Alaska. What was once a gold rush town, Chicken is now part of the city of Fairbanks. It was originally called Ptarmi­gan for a type of cold-weather grouse found in the area. Since most folks had trouble spelling the word, the tiny town was renamed Chicken due to its resemblance to a grouse.

Answer: Texas

The state of Texas has a number of uniquely named towns. Bigfoot, Cut and Shoot, and Muleshoe are some examples. Then there's Ding Dong. According to the town's history, Zulis Bell and his nephew Bert ran a country store in central Texas near the town of Killeen.

An artist by the name of C.C. Hoover was hired to design a sign for the store. The sign had two bells, which included the names of Zulis and Bert. Perhaps as a joke, Hoover added the words Ding Dong to go along with the bells. The community, which was never very big anyway, grew up around the store and folks eventually referred to the town itself as Ding Dong.

Answer: Indiana

Originally known as Salt Spring, the name French Lick seems a bit unusual until you learn that it was originally a French settlement with a nearby salt lick. The salt lick was a way for animals to get needed minerals by literally licking salt. This little town has some history besides livestock and salt.

By the early twentieth century casinos began to appear. Notorious mobster Al Capone and composer Irving Berlin spent time at the casinos. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would go on to serve three terms as President of the United States, announced his decision to run for President at the National Governors' Convention at the French Lick Springs Hotel.

Answer: Mississippi

Money is and always has been a small community. The town is named for Hernando Money, a Senator from Mississippi. It's located along the Tallahatchie River, a river made famous with Bobbie Gentry's 1967 ballad "Ode to Billie Joe." The town, however, has a much darker association

In 1955, a 14-year-old African-American boy named Emmett Till went to visit relatives in Money. Accused of flirting with a white woman at a local grocery store, which at that time would have violated unwritten laws, Till was murdered soon after. The case made headlines and drew national attention to a number of hot topic issues that had been simmering for decades.

Answer: Iowa

There has been much debate about the origin of this town's name and there still is no official explanation as to how it came to be known as What Cheer. It was originally named Petersburg for its founder, Peter Britton.

In 1864 a man named Joseph Andrews opened a store in town and decided to change the town's name from Petersburg to What Cheer, possibly as a nod to an old English greeting. Mr. Andrews must have had a lot of clout because the name stuck.

Today What Cheer is still a small town, barely over 600 residents according to the 2020 census. Its focal point is the Opera House, built by a Masonic lodge in 1893.

Answer: Utah

The correct pronunciation for the name of this town is "too-will-a" which makes sense once you know that the town was originally spelled Tuilla. No one knows for sure how the town got its name, although there are a number of theories.

Tooele has quite a history. The Goshute Indians called this desert area home long before pioneers settled there. From 1869 to 1861 the Pony Express Trail ran through Tooele County connecting a route from Missouri to California. Mining was introduced in 1930 which encouraged population growth. The 1940s brought chemical and biological testing of missiles in an area known as the Dugway Proving Ground, not far from Tooele. Tooele itself is located 34 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

Answer: New Hampshire

The town of Sandwich dates back to 1763 when Governor Benning Wentworth established it. A few years later European settlers began to arrive and soon this small town had grown to include farms, mills, blacksmiths, schools and churches. The town is named for John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich who we know as inventor of the sandwich. New Hampshire is a mountainous state.

The town of Sandwich is located within the Sandwich Range.