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Quiz about Its Named That Way For Some Reason

It's Named That Way For Some Reason Quiz

Some places in the U.S. with odd and unusual names are featured here. Let's find out how they came to be called that!

A multiple-choice quiz by logcrawler. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
logcrawler

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
403,992

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
241

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Fries, Virginia is pronounced "Freeze". If that is not weird enough, then consider where it got its name.
You get to guess now...
Hint

from a fast-food potato snack

from pork skins

from the mountain snows

from a cotton mill owner

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Bangs, Texas did NOT get its name from a shootout at the Okey-Dokey Corral. However you may be able to determine how it did acquire its name from the choices given.
Go ahead; give it a "shot"! Hint

a dog which ate chicken eggs

a lady that loved rabbits

a man who never saw his property

a child with long hair in her face

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. The caveman Alley Oop musta lived here in a nearby cave at one time.
So, tell me: just how DID Dinosaur, Colorado get that name? Hint

dinosaur bones were found under the courthouse basement

it was named for a nearby tourist attraction

the children's t.v. character Barney was created there

the name was drawn from a basket in a contest

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Lying in Horse Thief Canyon, (which is interesting all by itself), the town of Superior, Wyoming began its existence with a different name.
Wanna take a guess at it?
Clue: a bland shade of pale Hint

Greystone

Bleached Bone

Beigetown

White City

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. Atomic City, Idaho was once a booming place but is now little more than a ghost town. What happened to cause this? Hint

nuclear meltdown

earthquake and ensuing flood

water supply dwindled

a nearby city laid claim to it

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Uncertain, Texas. How very odd indeed!
How did this place acquire such a vague sounding name? Hint

it isn't certain to even be in Texas at all

it is named for Abraham "Uncertain" Sartin

no one cared enough to even give it a name

the name wasn't decided on before it was established

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Do not go too fast through this town, even if it is named Speed, North Carolina.
How in the world did it get the name of Speed?
It was named in honor of which of the following? Hint

a horse racetrack located nearby

the straightaway that leads directly to the coast

the town doctor Eugene Travis Speed Sr.

a type of illicit drug popular in the 1960s

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. Once known in 1883 as Hen Peck, Illinois it is now called Oblong.
And that is somehow supposed to be an "improvement"?

Why Oblong, instead of Hen Peck? Hint

renamed for Captain Jacob L. Oblong

the great-grandfather of the mayor was T.S. Oblonga

mistakenly called that instead of Oolong, like the tea

named for its shape on the prairie

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Rainbow City, Alabama sounds quite colorful doesn't it?
Not boring at all, like say, Brownsville, TX. or Green Bay, WI.
Lots of colors appear in a rainbow, but how did this town get its name? Hint

it was named for a local roadway

a nearby waterfall has a rainbow behind it every sunny day

frequent thunderstorms often leave rainbows in their wake

a bridge that is arced like a rainbow leads west of town

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. Now that's "peculiar"...
Peculiar, Missouri, that is.
How did it get that name? Hint

from a letter to the post office

from the town founder's wife, Joan Peculiar

from the shape of the water tower (square)

from a local joke about hedgehogs

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Fries, Virginia is pronounced "Freeze". If that is not weird enough, then consider where it got its name. You get to guess now...

Answer: from a cotton mill owner

"Colonel" Francis Henry Fries inadvertently loaned his surname to the town in Grayson County. A prominent cotton mill owner, he established a couple of towns. First, there was Mayodan, named after his textile mill, the Mayo Mill.
Later he attempted to tried to incorporate another town called Carico, but for reasons that remain unclear, the Virginia state legislature changed it to Fries, Virginia.

2. Bangs, Texas did NOT get its name from a shootout at the Okey-Dokey Corral. However you may be able to determine how it did acquire its name from the choices given. Go ahead; give it a "shot"!

Answer: a man who never saw his property

A man who was given the land, Samuel Bangs, had received it as payment for services he had rendered as a printer during the Texas Revolution. It is very probable that he never even saw the land according to all reports.

3. The caveman Alley Oop musta lived here in a nearby cave at one time. So, tell me: just how DID Dinosaur, Colorado get that name?

Answer: it was named for a nearby tourist attraction

Originally known as Baxter Springs, the town later became known as Artesia when it prepared to benefit from the oil boom of the 1940s. In 1966 they decided to capitalize on its proximity to Dinosaur National Monument which lies just east of town.
Hey, to keep in the spirit of it all they even changed some of the street names to things like Cletisaurus Circle, Tyrannosaurus Trail, and Antrodemus Alley!

4. Lying in Horse Thief Canyon, (which is interesting all by itself), the town of Superior, Wyoming began its existence with a different name. Wanna take a guess at it? Clue: a bland shade of pale

Answer: White City

The Superior Coal Company essentially owned this town that had once been called White City. That name had been derived from the color of the miners' tents that dotted the countryside before the actual town was built by the company.

5. Atomic City, Idaho was once a booming place but is now little more than a ghost town. What happened to cause this?

Answer: nuclear meltdown

Once called Midway, Atomic City proudly changed to its new name in 1950 when the world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plant was built adjacent to it. It was viewed as a cutting-edge name indicating a town that was heading to a glorious future, initially.

In 1955 the world's first partial nuclear meltdown occurred and 6 years later another grisly incident happened. A nuclear explosion finished the town off almost entirely. Those who were still capable of leaving did so, rapidly.
The town had a population of 29 people according to the 2010 census, with most of the people who first inhabited the place deceased.
There is one store and one bar in Atomic City and the store can no longer sell gasoline, due to new laws pertaining to its underground gas tanks.

Let's not put this one on our must-see travel list.

6. Uncertain, Texas. How very odd indeed! How did this place acquire such a vague sounding name?

Answer: the name wasn't decided on before it was established

While the city of Uncertain was incorporated in 1961 it didn't have a name yet when the founders applied for township. According to tradition, they merely filled in the blank for the name of the joint as "uncertain".
The name stuck. Wow!
The town's estimated 2018 population was a whopping 59 people.
Uncertain is certainly an unusual place name, huh?

7. Do not go too fast through this town, even if it is named Speed, North Carolina. How in the world did it get the name of Speed? It was named in honor of which of the following?

Answer: the town doctor Eugene Travis Speed Sr.

Dr. Speed did not name this town after himself. No, Andrew Jackson Parker Sr. founded it and named it after the good doctor.
The town lies about 55 miles east of the Raleigh/Durham metropolitan area and had a population of 84 in July 2020.

8. Once known in 1883 as Hen Peck, Illinois it is now called Oblong. And that is somehow supposed to be an "improvement"? Why Oblong, instead of Hen Peck?

Answer: named for its shape on the prairie

How very boring. Oblong is named for its oblong shaped site on the prairie.
Hen Peck was much more interesting, especially since it was named for a sign at a local store.
"Hen. Peck", it said, meaning that Henry Peck was the proprietor.
My suggestion? Change it back! Much more colorful at least.

9. Rainbow City, Alabama sounds quite colorful doesn't it? Not boring at all, like say, Brownsville, TX. or Green Bay, WI. Lots of colors appear in a rainbow, but how did this town get its name?

Answer: it was named for a local roadway

A section of U.S. Highway 411, called Rainbow Drive runs right through the city.
Really? A town named for a national highway? Wow!
I'll bet the residents are glad that Route 66 doesn't come near them. Otherwise they might be inclined to name the gas stations after their former mayor, a Mr. Philips... All 66 of them! :)

10. Now that's "peculiar"... Peculiar, Missouri, that is. How did it get that name?

Answer: from a letter to the post office

A letter to the post office requested the town be named Excelsior. Ah, but not to be. That name was already taken by another locale in Missouri. So, back to the drawing board they went. Two or three times; but in each case they were informed that those were already in use too!
Finally, a letter was sent to the post office requesting that they help out, specifying in quotation marks like this - it will not do to give us some "peculiar" name.

Well, there you are, (I'm sure they thought), a new name for your town.
Have a nice day.
Object lesson here: Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it!

Source: Author logcrawler

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