Odd things in your local area

[severe delays]

I was hanging out at the bus stop the other week when I noticed something odd. In London the bus shelters will have a big map of the local area along with all the local bus routes shown. And beneath will be an index of street names and places of interest. The map will usually cover about a square mile if not less.

Now just to the south of the area I live in the guy who planned the streets did something nifty. A long arterial road was built with several streets coming off it all very close together and parallel to one another. And if you take the first letter of each of those streets you spell out the name of the planner's daughter. Very cute.

So I was idly perusing the bus map for want of anything better to do and I discovered no less than SIXTEEN streets which had what could be considered a first name. It's common to name streets after people but usually that is with their surname. Some of the names could be related to geographical or botanical features and while some areas do certainly have streets all named after kings or counties trees etc there was no common cluster.

So who the hell are Abbey, Devon, Dorothy, Fraser, Hazel, Jordan, Kathleen, Lee, Lily, May, Primrose, Stanley, Stanley, Stanley, Victor and Wendy?

And what odd things are going on in your local area?

[The Futility of Nihilism]

Well, I live in Dallas, Texas. Where the city council wants to build a highway right next to a river inside a set of levees where it floods a lot. Here is a picture from September. See that bridge that goes under water? Yeah the highway is supposed to go under that.

The voters of the city of Dallas went along with the plan, too. The city told them they had a way to "mitigate" flood waters.

Oh and those levees you see in that picture? Yeah they're old and falling apart and will soon be decertified as being capable of holding back flood waters of the sort in that picture. The city, naturally, sprang to action and started fixing the levees. Ha ha, just kidding. They're trying to contest the decertification of course.

Is that odd enough for you?

[jali]

From wiki: It is often joked that half of the streets in Atlanta are named Peachtree, and the other half have five names to make up for it. While "Peachtree" alone always refers to this street, there are 71 streets in Atlanta with a variant of "Peachtree" in their name.[2] Some of these include Peachtree Creek Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Drive, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Way, Peachtree Memorial Drive, New Peachtree Road, Peachtree Walk, Peachtree Park Drive and Peachtree Valley Road.

I work on Peachtree and early next year our office is moving way downtown to Peachtree.

[Mbossa]

I live on the petrified remains of a giant sea monster.

Wikipedia: The name Hataitai has an interesting history. The ridge of the hill was thought to have been the petrified remains of the great taniwha (sea monster) Whataitai, one of the two creatures who helped form the harbour of Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour). When one taniwha broke through the rock that separated the then lake from Cook Strait, the waters rushed out, leaving Whataitai stranded on rocks. An earthquake later lifted the monster's body into the hills below Tangi Te Keo (Mount Victoria).

[Lucifer]

We persecuted, prosecuted, tortured and gruesomely executed a bunch of witches a while back.

[Auntbeast]

Not only was Deliverance filmed here, I used to work with the ex-wife of the banjo boy. Also, the mountain over my shoulder is supposedly haunted. Oh, and the Foxfire books are made here.

[severe delays]

I can't decide if Jali or Mbossa is the winner so far...

[Chacoguy]

THIS abomination is about 15 miles from here. It's also the first google hit for "hole". Wouldn't you rather go here than some crappy National Park?

[Dragonlady]

Originally Posted by jali

From wiki: It is often joked that half of the streets in Atlanta are named Peachtree, and the other half have five names to make up for it. While "Peachtree" alone always refers to this street, there are 71 streets in Atlanta with a variant of "Peachtree" in their name.[2] Some of these include Peachtree Creek Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Drive, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Way, Peachtree Memorial Drive, New Peachtree Road, Peachtree Walk, Peachtree Park Drive and Peachtree Valley Road.

I work on Peachtree and early next year our office is moving way downtown to Peachtree.

I can't tell you happy I am NOT be your mailcarrier!

[Anacanapuna]

Folks in Longmont, Colorado, live on Gay, Francis, or Vivian streets, all named after the developer's daughters.

And speaking of Longmont street names, when we lived there in the 1980s, our neighborhood included a Chivington Drive, named after the man who commanded the militiamen during the Sand Creek Massacre. I raised holy Ned when I moved into the neighborhood in 1984 (I was a columnist with the local newspaper) but it wasn't until 2004 that they city council finally did the right thing and re-named it Sunrise Drive.

[Chacoguy]

Originally Posted by Anacanapuna

And speaking of Longmont street names, when we lived there in the 1980s, our neighborhood included a Chivington Drive, named after the man who commanded the militiamen during the Sand Creek Massacre. I raised holy Ned when I moved into the neighborhood in 1984 (I was a columnist with the local newspaper) but it wasn't until 2004 that they city council finally did the right thing and re-named it Sunrise Drive.

Well Done and Thank You.

[jali]

Originally Posted by Anacanapuna

Folks in Longmont, Colorado, live on Gay, Francis, or Vivian streets, all named after the developer's daughters.

And speaking of Longmont street names, when we lived there in the 1980s, our neighborhood included a Chivington Drive, named after the man who commanded the militiamen during the Sand Creek Massacre. I raised holy Ned when I moved into the neighborhood in 1984 (I was a columnist with the local newspaper) but it wasn't until 2004 that they city council finally did the right thing and re-named it Sunrise Drive.

Hugging you from a distance.

[Anacanapuna]

Originally Posted by The Futility of Nihilism

Well, I live in Dallas, Texas. Where the city council wants to build a highway right next to a river inside a set of levees where it floods a lot. Here is a picture from September. See that bridge that goes under water? Yeah the highway is supposed to go under that.

The voters of the city of Dallas went along with the plan, too. The city told them they had a way to "mitigate" flood waters.

Oh and those levees you see in that picture? Yeah they're old and falling apart and will soon be decertified as being capable of holding back flood waters of the sort in that picture. The city, naturally, sprang to action and started fixing the levees. Ha ha, just kidding. They're trying to contest the decertification of course.

Is that odd enough for you?

Is that the Trinity River? Is what you're talking about part of the overhaul of South Dallas that the Dallas newspaper has been editorializing about since 2009?

[Scarlett67]

Not as impressive as jali's Atlanta example, but it seems like every other throughway around here is named Cottonville. Cottonville Lane, Cottonville Road, Cottonville Court . . . and it's not like this is a big cotton-producing area or anything. What gives? I dunno.

[Euryphaessa]

The original part of my hometown is laid out in a grid. The streets running parallel to Water Street (the main street down by the water) are all named after British lords of some kind (Montague, Parr, and Carlton to name a few) while the streets running perpendicular to Water Street are named after members of the British royal family (Mary, Sophia, Augustus, and Adolphus are some of these).

[The Futility of Nihilism]

Originally Posted by Anacanapuna

Is that the Trinity River? Is what you're talking about part of the overhaul of South Dallas that the Dallas newspaper has been editorializing about since 2009?

Yes. And I don't know, the paper is always editorializing about how they know what's best for South Dallas. And all of Dallas really. This particular issue dates to 1998. They should really rename the paper here to Pravda and be done with it.

[Lazlo]

I'm the oddest thing in my area.

[BJMoose]

I think the name thing is rather common. Here in Wichita the famous bunch is named for the daughters of the developer: Laura, Pattie, Lulu, Fanny, . . . Oh, wait. Fanny is now Greenwood. Seems the prudes didn't like it. (Cultural note to our friends on the east side of The Pond: over here fanny refers to the butt, not what you use if for.)

With all the strange stuff our politicians and businessmen do, you'd think I could think of something, but I can't, so I'll settle for this little item:

Several years back an old skull was found in the cellar of an old house. No big deal there; it happens. (Every now and then someone digs into an old Indian grave.) What made it interesting to me was the fact that that house had once been home to a girl I had the hots for back in the fourth grade. Hmmmmm.

[Dirx]

Originally Posted by Mbossa

I live on the petrified remains of a giant sea monster.

Wikipedia: The name Hataitai has an interesting history. The ridge of the hill was thought to have been the petrified remains of the great taniwha (sea monster) Whataitai, one of the two creatures who helped form the harbour of Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour). When one taniwha broke through the rock that separated the then lake from Cook Strait, the waters rushed out, leaving Whataitai stranded on rocks. An earthquake later lifted the monster's body into the hills below Tangi Te Keo (Mount Victoria).

As a paleontologist who loves all kinds of mythology, I gotta say that I'm genuinely jealous. That's very cool.

[Pirate]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon,_Missouri

Traditionally, downtown Lebanon hosts the first night of the Hillbilly Days festival, held each Father's Day weekend in June.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've got you all beat.

[davew0071]

Well, I don't know how odd this is, but since it influenced the very naming of the town, here it is:

This town used to be called Muddy Creek. I actually currently live not far from the Muddy Creek, which runs just west of the center of town. Back in the late 1800s, someone apparently found freshwater pearls in the Muddy Creek. This apparently caused such a sensation that the Town Fathers decided Muddy Creek was a crummy name (which it is) and renamed the town Pearl River. I've seen the pearls; from time to time they go on display in the library. But the creek is still a creek. Especially when you compare it to the Hudson River, only a few dozen miles away, but by anyone's standards, it's a creek. I mean, you could hop across it in many spots.

[Carolia]

I live in Miami. Everything here is odd.

[tunaman]

Originally Posted by jali

From wiki: It is often joked that half of the streets in Atlanta are named Peachtree, and the other half have five names to make up for it. While "Peachtree" alone always refers to this street, there are 71 streets in Atlanta with a variant of "Peachtree" in their name.[2] Some of these include Peachtree Creek Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Drive, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Way, Peachtree Memorial Drive, New Peachtree Road, Peachtree Walk, Peachtree Park Drive and Peachtree Valley Road.

I work on Peachtree and early next year our office is moving way downtown to Peachtree.

Well, to be fair, Peachtree Street, Peachtree Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard are all the same road, and many of the other "Peachtree" roads either branch off of that (Peachtree Battle Road, for example), or are "directionally named" (Peachtree Dunwoody Road runs from Peachtree Road to Dunwoody, for example).

Originally Posted by Auntbeast

Not only was Deliverance filmed here, I used to work with the ex-wife of the banjo boy. Also, the mountain over my shoulder is supposedly haunted. Oh, and the Foxfire books are made here.

That's weird. Just yesterday I told a story in my "Ghost Stories" thread about a friend of mine who moved into his grandparent's old house in Longcreek when he had some financial problems. When my friend was a kid, his family would go up there for short vacations, the holidays, etc. and he would play with some of the Deliverance banjo guy's cousins!

***

My own story: here in Charlotte, there's a four-way intersection where two roads come together... but both roads make 90º turns at the intersection. So, depending on which way you're traveling, staying on the same road requires a hard right or hard left turn. Locals call it the "intersection of Providence and Providence and Queens and Queens", and I still have to stop and think before going through the intersection, even though I've lived here for seven years.

[Hunter Hawk]

Originally Posted by Pirate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon,_Missouri

Traditionally, downtown Lebanon hosts the first night of the Hillbilly Days festival, held each Father's Day weekend in June.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've got you all beat.

There's a creek near where I grew up that is officially named "Negro Run". The name was officially changed in the 1960s; prior to that, and still the de facto name, it was a different n-word.

[tunaman]

^^^ Heh.

That reminds me of this one time when I worked for my father, in the candy department of his cash and carry wholesale grocery store. We often got calls for "bulk candy" (unwrapped candy in large boxes, say 50 lbs. of gumballs). It wasn't often enough for us to make a profit by carrying them, but often enough that I had memorized the name, address and phone number of a local distributor. So... one day I got the following phone call:

Me: Good afternoon, candy department…
Customer: [with obnoxious NY\NJ accent] Yeah, do youze guys sell bulk candy?
Me: No, ma’am, we sure don’t, but if you call [local distributor] at [phone number] I’m sure they’d be able to help you out.
Customer: Thank you… Just out of curiosity, where are they located?
Me: They’re on Phil Niekro Parkway in Norcross, and…
Customer: WHAT?
Me: I’m sorry?
Customer: I can’t believe that YOU PEOPLE would name a street that! It’s not the 1950s anymore!
Me: Excuse me?
Customer: That’s disgraceful… naming a street Phil Negro Parkway… YOU PEOPLE should be ashamed! If they did that where I’m from in Jersey…
Me: It’s “Niekro”, ma’am… after Phil Niekro? The Hall of Fame pitcher for the Atlanta Braves?
Customer: Who?
Me: Phil Niekro. N-I-E-K-R-O. He had a mean knuckleball, ma’am.
Customer: [sheepishly] Oh. I’m sorry.

[severe delays]

Originally Posted by Euryphaessa

The original part of my hometown is laid out in a grid. The streets running parallel to Water Street (the main street down by the water) are all named after British lords of some kind (Montague, Parr, and Carlton to name a few) while the streets running perpendicular to Water Street are named after members of the British royal family (Mary, Sophia, Augustus, and Adolphus are some of these).

Well the royals were all the children of George III. Do the others pop up as street names too?

I'm not sure yet on the others. Montagu and Parr have certainly been royal houses at various points but I'm not sure about Carlton. Fortunately I have nothing else to do so shall keep working on it.

[GoSmoke]

Originally Posted by Carolia

I live in Miami. Everything here is odd.

Yep. I'd say everything in South Florida is odd.

[dogbutler]

The Mexican Consulate is one block from my apartment. The tore down a Taco Bell to build it.

[severe delays]

Originally Posted by dogbutler

The Mexican Consulate is one block from my apartment. The tore down a Taco Bell to build it.

You may have scooped the thread!

[Solfy]

There's a small museum across the highway from my house, complete with a 19th century graveyard. Several of the graveyard's occupants were born in my house.

_{When I feel blue about my house, I remind myself that it's not just an old heap, but a historical old heap.}

[eleanorigby]

I live in a community surrounded by 6, count 'em, 6 golf courses*, one of which hosted a PGA Senior Open Tournament (I think--it's pro golf for the older folk). I never think about this; it's only when I go somewhere else and look around that I realize that golf courses are not as common as one might think.






*Time was they went like this:

2 Jewish only clubs**
2 White only, men only (women are STILL not fully members at these clubs, but they do allow brown people in)
1 public club***
1 Not as racist picky, but still private club

** Used to be a huge Jewish community here--big enough to support 2 country clubs and a Community Center. One of the golf courses went public about 15 years ago; the other has just filed for bankruptcy. The JCC is also closing now as well.


*** This also went belly up, but was bought by the local Park District which revamped the course and added a lodge type restaurant. It is doing well, AFAIK.



I do not play golf, except for miniature golf.

[BJMoose]

Originally Posted by Solfy

There's a small museum across the highway from my house, complete with a 19th century graveyard. Several of the graveyard's occupants were born in my house.

_{When I feel blue about my house, I remind myself that it's not just an old heap, but a historical old heap.}

Reminds me of something I read several years back. If one's house is more than, I forget what, say, fifty years old, there is a good chance that someone has died in it.

[meek]

I consider Alberta my local area. It seems every little town and hamlet wants to have the world's largest something or other...

I'm am almost ashamed to admit it, but I have seen almost all of these... um... "wonders".

Here's the link.
.

[Lord Blackmore]

America's Stonehenge:

http://www.stonehengeusa.com/

[SmartAleq]

I was reminded recently of a Portland oddness when I had to go to a house there--Ladd's Addition. If you zoom out you'll see that the place is drastically odd in relation to Portland's overall grid system, and I swear there's a space warp in there because even people who made a living from being able to find anything (like me, for instance) get turned around and lost in that place--even the residents do, too! It's a beautiful neighborhood, though, check it on street view.

We also have a large, tacky Paul Bunyan statue.

ETA: Washington has a Stonehenge too, in Maryhill on the Columbia Gorge. It's cool and is even oriented correctly so it works the way the original one does. It's also a WWI memorial.

[Anacanapuna]

Originally Posted by The Futility of Nihilism

Yes. And I don't know, the paper is always editorializing about how they know what's best for South Dallas. And all of Dallas really. This particular issue dates to 1998. They should really rename the paper here to Pravda and be done with it.

I only know about that because I'm doing my master's thesis on the use of pathos in the 2009 and 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning editorials. The Morning News won the 2010 Pulitzer for the series of editorials it did on re-developing South Dallas. Interesting stuff.

[Euryphaessa]

Originally Posted by severe delays

Well the royals were all the children of George III. Do the others pop up as street names too?

I'm not sure yet on the others. Montagu and Parr have certainly been royal houses at various points but I'm not sure about Carlton. Fortunately I have nothing else to do so shall keep working on it.

They do! There is a Frederick Street, Elizabeth Street, Edward Street, Ernest Street and William Street. It looks like Parr, Montague and Carlton are the only streets with specific names running parallel to the water, the other ones are Queen Street and Prince of Wales Street.

Also, thanks, SD! I sort of half-remembered the explanation for the street names, I wasn't sure which king's children they referred to. The town was founded in 1783, right in the middle of George III's reign.

[McNutty]

I drive by this weird center divider feature on a regular basis and I always wonder what its purpose is.

And speaking of overused street names, here is the sign marking the corner of Bellevue, Bellevue and Bellevue.

[jali]

Here are the Mt. Zion intersections in the ATL area.

Mt Zion Blvd & Mt Zion Cir, Forest Park-Morrow, Clayton, GA 30260
Mt Zion Blvd & Mt Zion Rd, Morrow, Clayton, GA 30260
Mt Zion Rd & Mt Zion Cir, Morrow, Clayton, GA 30260
Mt Zion Rd & Mt Zion Pkwy, Jonesboro, Clayton, GA 30236
Mt Zion Rd NW & Mt Zion Rd, Conyers, Rockdale, GA 30012
Mt Zion Rd SW & Mt Zion Rd SE, Atlanta, Fulton, GA 30354

[severe delays]

Originally Posted by SmartAleq

I was reminded recently of a Portland oddness when I had to go to a house there--Ladd's Addition. If you zoom out you'll see that the place is drastically odd in relation to Portland's overall grid system, and I swear there's a space warp in there because even people who made a living from being able to find anything (like me, for instance) get turned around and lost in that place--even the residents do, too! It's a beautiful neighborhood, though, check it on street view.

You ever wonder if it's a target or something? X marks the spot and all that.

[Solfy]

Originally Posted by BJMoose

Reminds me of something I read several years back. If one's house is more than, I forget what, say, fifty years old, there is a good chance that someone has died in it.

I'm positive people, most likely multiple people, have died in my house. It's four times fifty years old, and the last owners swore it was haunted. We haven't heard a peep in three years. Of course the last owners drank a lot and had a dozen cats. If I had a dozen cats and more of an alcohol habit I'd hear stuff at night, too.

Originally Posted by meek

I consider Alberta my local area. It seems every little town and hamlet wants to have the world's largest something or other...

I'm am almost ashamed to admit it, but I have seen almost all of these... um... "wonders".

Here's the link.
.

:hijack: My mother was just up at Athabasca University last week. You know you're headed into the boondocks when you have to drive two hours north after flying into Edmonton, and the site coordinator calls you and warns you to bring a warm coat and look out for moose. She said they shut down the school when it drops below -40.

[Lazlo]

Originally Posted by dogbutler

The Mexican Consulate is one block from my apartment. The tore down a Taco Bell to build it.

For some reason, this made me giggle like a schoolgirl.

[GoSmoke]

Originally Posted by Lazlo

For some reason, this made me giggle like a schoolgirl.

Me too. I have no idea why, but there is something ironic about this that I am not getting.

[eleanorigby]

The owner before the previous owners of our house hanged himself in the garage. No, it is not haunted. We didn't know him.

[Zucchini Paw]

A small section in one of the towns i used to live in, one side of the main road the streets are named after planets while the other after famous people (mostly composers: Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and there's Armstrong in there).

[SmartAleq]

Originally Posted by severe delays

You ever wonder if it's a target or something? X marks the spot and all that.

My pet theory is landing zone for aliens, which would explain the directional confusion that hits everyone who goes there.

[dogbutler]

Originally Posted by SmartAleq

My pet theory is landing zone for aliens, which would explain the directional confusion that hits everyone who goes there.

the mass of the spaceship cases space-time to warp in the area.

[tunaman]

OK... I suppose I should start a new thread for this, but I figure it's probably not important enough to do that, and this is as good a place as any to ask, so here goes:

Although I've traveled to a good chunk of the United States, I haven't really driven much outside Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas. So this may be a regional thing here in this part of the world... but for years I noticed these bizarre "candy canes" on the side of interstates here in the South. They look like they're made out of dryer duct, and they're always painted the same shade of green as the large electrical or telephone boxes you sometimes see on the edge of people's yards. They appear to be about the size of a mailbox, and are usually located well off the road (as in, it's not being used to cover up one of those old call boxes you used to see on side of the road).

Any idea what those things are? Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen one in a while. At any rate, this is one of those things I've googlefailed at for years!

[MissJeanLouise]

Originally Posted by Lord Blackmore

America's Stonehenge:

http://www.stonehengeusa.com/

Is that near you? How is it that your location field says "near Boston", then? Not to be picky, really. I am 12 miles from Boston and consider that close enough to have it as my location, but a true Bostonian might even consider that iffy.

ETA: I truly am just curious. I'm having trouble with language today, so I'm hoping I don't come off as snarky. I am always curious when someone lives close to me is all.

[MissJeanLouise]

Originally Posted by tunaman

OK... I suppose I should start a new thread for this, but I figure it's probably not important enough to do that, and this is as good a place as any to ask, so here goes:

Although I've traveled to a good chunk of the United States, I haven't really driven much outside Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas. So this may be a regional thing here in this part of the world... but for years I noticed these bizarre "candy canes" on the side of interstates here in the South. They look like they're made out of dryer duct, and they're always painted the same shade of green as the large electrical or telephone boxes you sometimes see on the edge of people's yards. They appear to be about the size of a mailbox, and are usually located well off the road (as in, it's not being used to cover up one of those old call boxes you used to see on side of the road).

Any idea what those things are? Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen one in a while. At any rate, this is one of those things I've googlefailed at for years!

Ha! I always think they look like upseide-down field hockey sticks, and I have no idea what they are, either. Hopefully someone will.