We did an earlier post regarding unusual town/community names in Appalachia and after many more travels have decided to do a sequel. I could honestly write dozens and dozens of sequels (and if life goes on long enough, I just might do it) as theres a seemingly endless supply of odd community names in our area. So, without further adieu, here is the scoop on some other strangely named places: Hungry Mother State Park, VA - The legend goes that this park was named after a young mother, Molly Marley, and her small child were captured by Native Americans during a raid on the New River. Molly Marley and her child then are said to have escaped captivity and wandered through the woods with scant food to survive on. The small child made it back to safety alone and the only words she could say were, Hungry mother. A search party was then sent out to try to find Molly but after a search she was found dead. Her body was located at the foot of a mountain that is now known as Mollys Knob and the creek near where the child was found was named Hungry Mother Creek. Bugtussle, KY - This one might sound familiar as the name was referenced in The Beverly Hillbillies show from time to time as the hometown of some of the Clampett family. Bugtussle was given the name as a lighthearted reference to a large doodlebug population that lived in the area. Surprisingly, there are at least 5 Bugtussles in the United States as there are others in Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama. Bat Cave, NC - This community was given this name as it is home to Batman/Bruce Wayne, his butler Alfred, the Batmobile and...ok, I just made that one up. It is, unsurprisingly, named after a nearby cave on Bluerock Mountain that is home to various species of bats. Not an exciting reason for the moniker but a cool name nonetheless. Nameless, TN - There are various versions of how this community got its Nameless name. One story says that there was a big community gathering to discuss the name for the new post office that was going to be located in the area. The townsfolk couldnt agree on a name and, finally, after much debate one piped up, This heres a nameless place if ever I saw one, so leave it be. According to the story the comment struck a nerve with others who were tired of the whole debate and decided to make it stick. Another story claims that when residents sent in their application for a post office they accidentally left the name for the post office blank. Supposedly, the United States Post Office Department sent back the application with nameless stamped on it and the name stuck. Yet another story claims that it was going to be named Morgan after a local politician. The Post Office Department then was claimed to have rejected it due to the possible name association with Confederate General John Hunt Morgan as the post office was created in 1866 shortly after the ending of the Civil War. The official submitting the application is said to have wrote a letter back at that point saying if the chosen name wasnt going to be used that post office should remain nameless. All the stories sound far-fetched yet one of them is likely close to the truth. I love traveling and running into these oddball names and then researching their origin. Have you ever been to any of these places or know of others that we should check out? Let us know in the comments below. - Shane
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 02:13:59 +0000
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