“Discover America’s Most Bizarre Town Names: What Secrets Do They Hide?”
Chicken, Alaska
Chicken, Alaska, was the second town to be incorporated in the state. It’s one of the only places in the region where gold is still actively mined. And it could have a very different name today, had its founders not been overly concerned with spelling.
When gold prospectors first arrived on the scene in the 1890s, they made it through their first brutal winter by eating a ton of a local grouse called ptarmigan. They were so grateful for the sustenance that they wanted to name the town after the bird, but feared the spelling would be a problem for many. So the settlers opted for the simpler “Chicken” and the name stuck.
Satan’s Kingdom, Vermont
People who have ever dreamed of tubing in a place named for the devil are in luck with this one. Satan’s Kingdom, Vermont, is situated in Addison County. The unincorporated community’s odd name was given out of spite, by someone who had traveled to the area expecting “fertile, rolling acres” but instead found the land “rocky and hill-covered.”
Satan’s Kingdom is actually the name of three different towns in the United States. The others are in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Which one will you select for your next family reunion?
Belchertown, Massachusetts
Belchertown, Massachusetts, is surprisingly not named for a shared gastric disorder. No, the town was named for Jonathan Belcher, a wealthy politician and business owner who became the royal governor of Massachusetts and later New Jersey.
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