- From hordes of snakes to a lack of imagination, many things can inspire terrible place names.
America is a big, big country with plenty of places to see. Some of those places have… Unusual names.
Certain place names are kind of raunchy, while others are just plain weird. But then there are those places that really should’ve just been named something different.
Whether they’re gross by accident or design or just straight-up boring, here are 13 of the worst-named places in America.
1. Mount Disappointment, California
Mount Disappointment rises up from the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles in southern California. It’s so named because some surveyors in 1894 got ahead of themselves.
When a team of surveyors saw the 5,963-foot mountain, they declared it the highest in the San Gabriel range. But when they measured it, they realized the nearby San Gabriel Peak was slightly higher, so they named this one Mount Disappointment.
Look, guys, it’s your own fault for jumping to conclusions before taking any measurements.
2. Whiskey Dick Mountain, Washington
Whiskey Dick Mountain rises proudly to a height of 3,873 feet in central Washington state. That felt kind of weird to write, but hey, that’s the name.
The mountain’s name stems from the surrounding Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area. And where did that get its name?
Well, we tried, but we couldn’t find out. We can just assume some couple once had an experience here that could’ve also led to this hunk of rock being named Mount Disappointment.
3. Bugtussle, Kentucky
Bugtussle is a tiny, virtually nonexistent place in southern Kentucky. Its name sounds unpleasant — but it’s actually very accurate.
The area around the town is absolutely infested with doodlebugs, also known as antlions in their larval form. Early residents of the town had to tussle with the buzzing bugs just to be able to lie down at night, hence the yucky name.
4. Roachtown, Illinois
If you thought Bugtussle sounded bad, you’ve heard nothing yet. Welcome to Roachtown, IL.
Well, there was a time in the late 1800s when you could’ve visited Roachtown. Today, the town’s no longer there but Roachtown Road still reminds us that this place once existed.
Can’t really blame anyone for letting it die, though. Who wants to live in Roachtown?
5. Big Cockroach Mound, Florida
Big Cockroach Mound. This hill sits on its eponymous island in the waters of Cockroach Bay, right by Cockroach Channel.
Look, there are two options here. If these names are not accurate, we need to come up with new names — if they are, we need to burn this place and everything within a 10-mile radius.
6. Center of the World, Ohio
A lot of places around the globe claim to be the center of the world. But we can promise you, this tiny middle-of-nowhere town in Ohio is not it.
The name is a great example of hubris. Center of the World was founded and named by the “eccentric investor” Randall Wilmot who planned to turn it into a bustling center of trade and commerce.
Then they built a railroad to the nearby Warren instead and Center of the World withered away. Good job, Randall.
7. Greasy, Oklahoma
The small town of Greasy, Oklahoma, has actually had a lot happening in and around it over the years. It was established in the Oklahoma land rush, served as a checkpoint on the Trail of Tears, and was a Confederate base in the Civil War.
That’s plenty of action for a place called Greasy. Seriously, why won’t people change names like these?
8. Poverty, Kentucky
Poverty is a really sucky name for a town. However, in the case of Poverty, Kentucky, that’s entirely intentional.
Once upon a time, a physician called William Short lived in the area and had a strong dislike for his obnoxiously snobby neighbors. Somehow, Short got a chance to name the newly incorporated town.
He named the place Poverty so that his hoity-toity neighbors would always live in Poverty. Never underestimate what sheer spite is capable of.
9. Hell, Michigan
Most people have probably thought at least once that they live in hell. But that’s an everyday reality for the residents of Hell, Michigan.
The place is actually a fairly nice, tiny hamlet in rural Michigan. Its unfortunate name stems from Hell Creek, which flows nearby.
But why does the community keep what’s probably one of the worst names you could give to a place in the Western world? Well, it brings in visitors and they have money — simple as that.
10. Satan’s Kingdom, Massachusetts
There are a couple of stories about how Satan’s Kingdom, Massachusetts, got its name. One tells of a priest who, upon seeing a forest fire after delivering a sermon about the fires of hell, declared that “Satan’s Kingdom is burning.”
But why would the locals name their own town after Old Nick’s hellhole? That’s why we think the second story is more believable — the name stems from the abundance of venomous snakes in the area.
11. Slickpoo, Idaho
We don’t even have to say anything here, do we? Come on, Slickpoo? Really?
This far-off-even-from-the-middle-of-nowhere place is named after Josiah Slickpoo, who helped Jesuit missionaries settle in the area. We don’t know how he got the unfortunate family name, but we’re not quite sure if we want to.
12. Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada
Cal-Nev-Ari doesn’t have a long history — it was settled by Nancy and Everette Kidwell only in the 1960s. This minuscule town sits in Nevada near the borders of California and Arizona.
So guess how it got its name? It’s kind of unimpressive how unimaginative yet creative the name is.
Fun fact, the whole town was sold in 2016 for $8 million. Yeah, this joint isn’t exactly jumping.
13. Imalone, Wisconsin
Imalone in Wisconsin has one of the most depressing names in all of America. The “town” (it’s not big enough for that, really) was founded by one Snowball Anderson in the early 1900s who decided to build a gas station in the sticks of Wisconsin.
A salesman once happened to come by and asked Anderson for the town’s name for his sales receipt. We can only imagine Anderson gesturing at all the nothing around when he replied, “I’m alone.”
And that’s what the salesman wrote on his receipt.