August 10, 2012
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Toad Suck, Arkansas has pipped Climax, Georgia and not one but two Borings for the dubious honor of "most embarrassing or unfortunate" town name in the United States.
Findmypast.com, a family history website, said it asked 1,754 of its users in seven English-speaking countries to pick their favorites from a short list of American communities with oddball names.
Toad Suck's name harks back to 19th century Arkansas River steamboat crews who, according to a local website, would drop in on the local tavern and "suck" on liquor until they swelled like toads.
Its biggest claim to fame today is a popular spring festival, Toad Suck Dazes, that raises money for scholarships.
Climax, a town of 300 at the highest point of a railway line between Savannah, Georgia and the Chattahoochee River, placed second, followed by Boring, Oregon -- already famous for twinning earlier this year with Dull, Scotland -- and Boring, Maryland.
Rounding out the list were Hooker, Oklahoma; Assawoman, Virginia; Belchertown, Massachusetts; Roachtown, Illinois; Loveladies, New Jersey; Squabbletown, California; and Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky.
"If there were an Olympics for unlikely town names, America would surely be good for a medal, if not the gold," said Josh Taylor, a genealogist and spokesperson for Findmypast.com.
Another website, Accuracyproject.org, features a thorough list of unusual American place names, including Two Egg, Florida; Bacon, Delaware; Toast, North Carolina; Hot Coffee, Mississippi; and Milk Springs, Alabama.
