Where the streets have silly names

[sedimenjerry 1]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Originally posted by: SteveMSim

Yes, those are bullet holes.  This is in an isolated place, so people can get away shooting the sign.

quote>

A couple years back, someone I know can be quoted as having said:

"There's two places you find bullet holes in street signs - In the middle of redneck country in the south... and in {expletive deleted} Compton."

quote>

... Uhhh, that's bad news for Lavonia.

And has no one mentioned Atlanta yet? It seems like every other road has Peachtree in it.

I mean, c'mon, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard? Talk about complete opposites.

Peachtrees don't even grow here in the piedmont

[thepokemaniac 18]

In Knoxville, Tennessee, they have Gay St in downtown...

[WillG_75 19]

Originally posted by: thepokemaniac

In Knoxville, Tennessee, they have Gay St in downtown...quote>

Not so uncommon. There's a bunch of cities with a Gay St.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: WillG_75

Not so uncommon. There's a bunch of cities with a Gay St.quote>

There are people with "Gay" as a first or last name, which said streets take their name from.

Stamford, CT also has a Gay Street downtown, although no signs mark it as such. It once was an actual street, today it just serves as the south entrance to a municipal parking lot/garage. So the signs are naturally for municipal parking, but the name "Gay Street" very much still exists internally in city documents and systems. The traffic light system has the signal at that entrance marked as the intersection of Broad Street and Gay Street.

Google maps publically reveals it.

It's not the only "secret street" in town. There are several others. Used to be more, but in recent years new street signs have revealed some of them.

Of course, there's also no shortage of streets that simply no longer exist, having been built over by modern buildings or highways. Priest Street is buried under I-95. Beehler Street is buried under the UBS building.

Most cities of significant size and age have that sort of thing. Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn have tons of former streets.

[LivingInThePast 364]

I want to see on Google Maps if there's a "Sex Drive", but I'm kind of afraid to...

[doodleman266 1]

[LivingInThePast 364]

Here's one "Peepee Falls" Rd.

[iowndiscti 141]

look at the exit number! ( troy , mi)

we also have a van dyke road, and a op dyke road.

detroit also has streets named after motown hit wonders

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Originally posted by: doodleman266

quote>

I was glad someone pointed that one out! I live in Melbourne and can't help smiling when I go past. There is also a road called Wurundgeri Way.

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Oh and there is an AC-DC Lane in Downtown Melbourne.

[Muck308 55]

After about nine months since I last posted in this thread, I haven't really seen any streets worth mentioning... except one. I never leave the house with a camera, so I haven't snapped a pic of it... but there is a road in Bradford Woods, PA that is called Seldom Seen Lane. It's not like it is hidden by trees or anything. 

I also think that it is rather silly that California Avenue in Pittsburgh changes to Lincoln Avenue when it enters the first municipality out of Pgh but then returns to California when that municipality ends (and it doesn't go back into Pgh either.) After that it turns into Church Avenue although I believe that Church is technically a different thoroughfare.

Oh and I thought everyone would get the U2 reference... I sure did.

[VMIUJcadet09 250]

Columbia, MD (halfway between DC and Baltimore) is very well known for weird/goofy names, such as:

Timid Deer Lane

Satan Wood Drive (...an accident, they finally fixed it-supposed to be Satin Wood Drive)

Riding Hood Circle

[Alayeina 0]

Okay, I've collected a few gems.

Long drive getting you down?  You can always stop here for a quick high:

 

Yes, that's a real town, near Mt. Shasta in northern California.  I lived there for two months...

Here's a couple of fun ones from Portland, OR:

No, it's not an ode to living room furniture.  It's officially pronounced "kooch," which seems vaguely obscene in some hard-to-describe way...  Interesting that "Burnside Street" is also Portland's red-light district...

Also, the Tualatin Valley Highway is known locally as the "TV Highway" (although I'm not sure if that appears on any official signs).  I also like how state DOT's name freeways after people who would probably be horrified to have a freeway named after them had they known what a freeway was when they were alive.  The Lewis & Clark Freeway, just on the Washington side of the Columbia River from Portland, comes to mind.

From Carpinteria (near Santa Barbara, CA):

There used to be a large statue of Santa Claus conspicuously visible from U.S. 101--legendarily placed as a joke referencing the large number of California coastal towns that start with "Santa" (Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Santa Monica).

Just a little further down highway 101 from there in the city of Ventura:

In case your cell phone dies, you know you can make a call if you take this exit...  ;-)

Actually, a drive down US-101 is good for silly names--I think this one near Thousand Oaks, CA might take the prize for the "huh?" factor:

I almost wonder if Caltrans (our highway dept.) ran out of money trying to spell "Ventura?"

Anyway, let the silliness continue!

All pictures from http://www.westcoastroads.com

Unfortunately, I didn't take any of them.

--Alayeina

[Don Giordano 0]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Originally posted by: SteveMSim

Yes, those are bullet holes.  This is in an isolated place, so people can get away shooting the sign.

quote>

A couple years back, someone I know can be quoted as having said:

"There's two places you find bullet holes in street signs - In the middle of redneck country in the south... and in {expletive deleted} Compton."

I believe we were talking about urban ghettos at the time. That quote stands out in my mind just because I find it so amusing.

Now, maybe we should add "the middle of the desert" to the list? Or does that fall under the "redneck country" category?

Sorry, random thought.

quote>

Yes, it would be classified as redneck country. Barstow and the entire desert area is completely redneck.

ZZYZX Road and the Bat Cave are the best so far!

[Duke87 1,070]

Yeah, your picture's aren't showing up. You can't just hotlink images directly from another site, many sites block it. fortunately, the URLs are still in the source and our firend ImageShack can remedy this problem:

Long drive getting you down?  You can always stop here for a quick high:

Here's a couple of fun ones from Portland, OR:

No, it's not an ode to living room furniture.  It's officially pronounced "kooch," which seems vaguely obscene in some hard-to-describe way...  Interesting that "Burnside Street" is also Portland's red-light district...

From Carpinteria (near Santa Barbara, CA):

There used to be a large statue of Santa Claus conspicuously visible from U.S. 101--legendarily placed as a joke referencing the large number of California coastal towns that start with "Santa" (Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Santa Monica).

Just a little further down highway 101 from there in the city of Ventura:

In case your cell phone dies, you know you can make a call if you take this exit...  ;-)

Actually, a drive down US-101 is good for silly names--I think this one near Thousand Oaks, CA might take the prize for the "huh?" factor:

I almost wonder if Caltrans (our highway dept.) ran out of money trying to spell "Ventura?"quote>

[catfriedrice 3]

Originally posted by: thepokemaniac

In Knoxville, Tennessee, they have Gay St in downtown...quote>

Oh there's a bunch of weird named streets here in Knoxville, like Historic Preservation Drive (which actually wiped out a part of the city in the 50's...), or Ho-Ca-Ta-Ke Ln.

Gay St, is actually one of the main roads through downtown, and it's in downtown Nashville as well.  At least it doesn't connect to Blows Ferry Rd

In my travels, I've also seen some oddballs in Jamestown (Wright Froggie Farm Rd.  Worked for a bank near Shag Rag Road in Cookeville, and Tater Peeler Rd in Lebanon.  

One of these days, I will find Farfrompoopen Rd that's supposidly in Tennessee...

[OoaHelaNatten 0]

Ever been to Boring, Oregon? ... Me neither.

[empirestatebldg 0]

Originally posted by: wolverine

Originally posted by: colonel1

Originally posted by: nofunk

Originally posted by: colonel1

quote>

 

I don't get it... why is Big Beaver Rd. a wierd name? I've been on Big Beaver hundreds of times and never thought of it as wierd...

BTW. Nofunk, I never knew you were a Detroiter! Praise Poverty !quote>

Oh, there are reasons. The exit number might contribute as well. But I'll let people figure it out for themselves.

And yes, I'm a Detroiter!quote>

 

Jesus! You are such a pervert! What do you think about when you look at the Washington Monument?quote>

 

That doesn't make someone perverted.  It's a slang term that most people know about after 3rd grade.quote>

Maybe in the ghetto (no offense intended to you) but not here in the Northeast US! Maybe after hih school, but third grade? Such a lie!

[empirestatebldg 0]

Originally posted by: wolverine

Originally posted by: colonel1

Originally posted by: nofunk

Originally posted by: colonel1

quote>

 

I don't get it... why is Big Beaver Rd. a wierd name? I've been on Big Beaver hundreds of times and never thought of it as wierd...

BTW. Nofunk, I never knew you were a Detroiter! Praise Poverty !quote>

Oh, there are reasons. The exit number might contribute as well. But I'll let people figure it out for themselves.

And yes, I'm a Detroiter!quote>

 

Jesus! You are such a pervert! What do you think about when you look at the Washington Monument?quote>

 

That doesn't make someone perverted.  It's a slang term that most people know about after 3rd grade.quote>

Maybe in the ghetto (no offense intended to you) but not here in the Northeast US! Maybe after hih school, but third grade? Such a lie!

[empirestatebldg 0]

Originally posted by: wolverine

Originally posted by: colonel1

Originally posted by: nofunk

Originally posted by: colonel1

quote>

 

I don't get it... why is Big Beaver Rd. a wierd name? I've been on Big Beaver hundreds of times and never thought of it as wierd...

BTW. Nofunk, I never knew you were a Detroiter! Praise Poverty !quote>

Oh, there are reasons. The exit number might contribute as well. But I'll let people figure it out for themselves.

And yes, I'm a Detroiter!quote>

 

Jesus! You are such a pervert! What do you think about when you look at the Washington Monument?quote>

 

That doesn't make someone perverted.  It's a slang term that most people know about after 3rd grade.quote>

Maybe in the ghetto (no offense intended to you) but not here in the Northeast US! Maybe after hih school, but third grade? Such a lie!

[empirestatebldg 0]

Originally posted by: wolverine

Originally posted by: colonel1

Originally posted by: nofunk

Originally posted by: colonel1

quote>

 

I don't get it... why is Big Beaver Rd. a wierd name? I've been on Big Beaver hundreds of times and never thought of it as wierd...

BTW. Nofunk, I never knew you were a Detroiter! Praise Poverty !quote>

Oh, there are reasons. The exit number might contribute as well. But I'll let people figure it out for themselves.

And yes, I'm a Detroiter!quote>

 

Jesus! You are such a pervert! What do you think about when you look at the Washington Monument?quote>

 

That doesn't make someone perverted.  It's a slang term that most people know about after 3rd grade.quote>

No one in the Northeast has ever said that in THIRD GRADE! We actually have ordinances that expel you from any school in the state for life if you tlak like that nscholl here in the Northeast. 

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: empirestatebldg

No one in the Northeast has ever said that in THIRD GRADE! We actually have ordinances that expel you from any school in the state for life if you tlak like that nscholl here in the Northeast. 

quote>

Being one of many kids I know who said much worse in elementary school (yes, in the Northeast) and didn't even get suspended for it... I'm going to have to beg to differ with that. The teacher yells at you but there's no punishment unless you keep doing it...

Wait, what were we talking about again?

[LivingInThePast 364]

I'm heading up a revival of this thread. Here's something for a change: try to find roads without Freudian connotations, this time around, mmmmkay?

Orlando, Florida

  Edited March 25, 2011 by LivingInThePast  

[AND93 10]

Not really a street but the first time I saw this sign I automatically laughed... It's a small town near Viseu, Portugal called Faíl, but some people, like the guys who made this sign, write Fail.

I have found this on failblog, just a few months after I stopped in that town. It has a large wall blocking one of the main streets, or at least used to have so I guess the name is not unjustified.

In the same post on failblog, I saw another road sign that deserves to be seen by everyone (almost as much as bat cave)

I guess the word secret became pretty subjective right?

P.S. great name for this topic!

[nathanthemayor 1,261]

These are some pretty interesting names people!Too bad Fresno doesn't have any interesting ones

[Duke87 1,070]

Failblog is itself a fail. The vast majority of the pictures posted there would be far more amusing raw, without "fail" written on them. And I hate it when websites insist on sticking ugly watermarks on everything.

And further proving how every repost is a repost of a repost, a picture of that "secret nuclear bunker" sign (actually, apparently a different sign with the same legend) was bouncing around the internet without textual enhancement several years before the "fail" meme existed. I have a copy of it on my hard drive with December 28, 2003 as the "last modified" date.

  Edited March 29, 2011 by Duke87  

[AND93 10]

yes I actually agree failblog shouldn't put their watermark on everything, but hey it is submitted by people so it is normal that everything is a repost of a repost.

Thanks for the clean nuclear bunker picture anyway

I just remembered that one day a friend of mine found that one with Fail so I searched it and added it to this post (credit to the submitters of course but by no means I'm advertising a cheezburger dependency)

[veryConfused 1]

A few interesting ones from eastern Nebraska (Mostly Omaha).

Omaha:

1. Saddle Creek Road - not the weirdest name since it runs through a dry creek bed, but it turns back to a creek every time it rains.

2. Aksarben Drive - I'm going to let you guys figure this one out. Reading backwards may help.

3. Cornhusker St. - I don't feel I need to explain this one

4. The intersection of Giles Rd. and Harrison St. - Nothing really funny about this one, except for the fact that if you measure exactly one mile south of the intersection you will find yourself on Giles Rd.

Lincoln:

5. East South Street - And of course West South Street to go along with it. The name also changes at First Street.

6. A-Y Street - Nothing funny except for the simple fact they forgot the letter Z.

Other:

7. Abbott Drive - Leaving Eppley Airport toward downtown Omaha of which one sign you will encounter is now entering Iowa. What makes it even weirder is that Eppley Airport is in Omaha

[astronelson 339]

There's an Aaaa Road in Howard Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. It has been suggested that the person who named it may have been drinking XXXX (a brand of beer) at the time.

[2557+cards 0]

In Peoria, Illinois, there is a Partridge Way...which intersects with Peartree Lane.

Also there is Bacon Drive, Best Street, Hazard Avenue, Gift Avenue, Brandywine Drive, and Scenic Drive (which runs between a shopping center and a mall).