Akron
|
Andover
|
Arlington
|
Aurora
|
Battle Creek
|
Bloomfield
|
Brooklyn
|
Buffalo
|
Burlington
|
Cambridge
|
Carlisle
|
Cincinnati
|
Corning
|
Cumberland
|
Danville
|
Decatur
|
Fairbank
|
Fredericksburg
|
Harper's Ferry
|
Hartford
|
Humboldt
|
Knoxville
|
Lansing
|
Lincoln
|
Little Rock
|
Manchester
|
Monticello
|
Ogden
|
Plymouth
|
Prescott
|
Princeton
|
Rockford
|
Scranton
|
Selma
|
Toledo
|
Vail
|
Williamsburg
|
All done? Okay, hang on while I check your answers...
Wrong.
They're all in Iowa.
As I've watched the Republican Presidential race heat up and the Iowa caucus gearing up, I've been struck by one thing repeatedly. No, it's not the other-wordly feeling that Iowa is Bizzaroworld where people like Rick Santorum can get 25% of the vote - neck and neck for winning the state's delegate votes. As astounding as that may be.
It is that everywhere in Iowa (with the possible exception of Iowa City, but I'm not too sure about that) seems to be named after somewhere else. Or at least there is some might liberal licensing of town names for such a conservative state.
In addition to the above, they've got their share of ubiquitous town names that seem to show up shore to shore: Bellevue, Centerville, Farmington, Garden City, Laurel, Mechanicsville, Middletown, Montpelier, Salem, Stratford, and Washington.
Austinville, Dallas Center, Delaware, Denmark, Jamaica, Luxemburg (sic ;) ), Macedonia, Madrid, Manilla, Moscow, Mount Vernon, Mystic, Nevada, New Virginia, Norway, Orient, Oxford, Panama, Peru, Volga, Wyoming, Yale, Yorktown.
Guttenberg,
Atlantic?? Smack dab in the middle of the country?
Altoona
I am glad I don't live in Correctionville. Yikes.
Or Gravity, IA. I wonder what I weigh there!
I might be willing to retire in IRA, IA, though...
But there is one Iowa place I can't help but cheer, "What Cheer, Iowa". Oddly enough, the town got this distinctive name after the post office rejected "Petersburg". I could hug that Post Master.
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