Blank to Blank

I focused on towns named Welcome in a recent article here on Twelve Mile Circle, with specific attention to a sign outside of one in particular located in North Carolina: Welcome to Welcome. I wondered if other towns could cobble together similar symmetries at their city limits. All I could envision at the time was the possibility of an Amble to Amble, Michigan.

I offered readers an opportunity to add to my tiny the list. I didn’t have any takers, and I think I’ve figured out the reason. It’s really difficult. Seriously. It’s a total pain. Nonetheless I challenged myself and I found a few more. Local Chambers of Commerce should feel welcome to adopt any of these if so inclined. I claim no ownership or trademark.

How about Fly to Fly, Ohio or Ferry to Ferry, Michigan? Those would be great but Fly doesn’t appear have an airport and Ferry is a good twenty miles from the nearest body of water.


Portal to Portal

Portal is a different story. There are a couple of great Portals so anyone can to take the portal to Portal.

P5211064. Photo by Andrew Filer; (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Portal, North Dakota

The portal into the town of Portal in North Dakota (map) is North Portal, Saskatchewan, Canada. It really is a portal, and it’s one of the few 24 hour per day international crossings along this stretch of the border. I found references to an international golf course there — supposedly the ninth hole crossed the border into Canada — but I couldn’t see it in the satellite photo. Is it possible that this anomaly is another victim of 9-11?

I also enjoyed the Portal in Georgia. It’s another instance of an unusual circular towns one sometimes finds scattered down there.


Fry in Fry

I began to look for other prepositions having exhausted the blank to blank construct. Is preposition the correct description? I mean words like in, beside, into, within, among and the like. Someone call the grammar police and interpret the rule for me, please. I was always terrible at grammar.

I know it’s supposed to be windy in Chicago, but is it Windy in Windy, Kentucky? If you were shy and lacked confidence, would you Blossom in Blossom, Texas? Should you be good in Good, West Virginia? And will you find Bliss in Bliss, Idaho?

I don’t know if any of those will ever happen but I guarantee that someone can Fry in Fry, Arizona. That’s a neighborhood in Sierra Vista near Fort Huachuca. I’ve been to Fort Huachuca during the summer months and I can attest that this desert outpost can get pretty hot. I think Fry deserves an award for truth in advertising.


Sleepy Eye in Sleepy Eye?

Maybe someday I’ll have an opportunity to Glide into Glide, Oregon or shout Eureka within Eureka, California.

Sleepy Eye Welcomes You. Photo by J. Stephen Conn; (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Sleepy Eye, Minnesota

The strangest one I found, and probably stretching the game to the breaking point, is Sleepy eye in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota (map). This is a real place with almost 4,000 residents apparently named for a Native American with droopy eyelids back in the Nineteenth Century.

I ignored worn-out examples like Climax, North Carolina, Intercourse, Pennsylvania, or Blue Ball, Pennsylvania. I run a wholesome website, here. Let’s get our minds out of the gutter.

Anyone else care to find other blanks-to-blanks, or try other preposition? Examples outside of the United States would be particularly welcome.


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Comments

14 responses to “Blank to Blank”

  1. Rick Nordstrom Avatar
    Rick Nordstrom

    I would think a southpaw would be welcome to use his left hand in Left Hand, WV.

  2. The Basement Geographer Avatar

    Newfoundland is a treasure trove of these sorts of things. Would you find your Fortune in Fortune? Would you Gander at Gander? Would you have a Happy Adventure in Happy Adventure? Would you Garnish in Garnish? Maybe you’ll find your Heart’s Content, Heart’s Delight, or Heart’s Desire? Why not find Paradise at Paradise? Or perhaps you’ll just hit your Low Point in Low Point, only to Salvage your trip in Salvage. Would you Come By Chance in Come By – oh, wait, wholesome website; can’t use that one…

    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar

      It’s too bad I made that “wholesome website” claim because I just ran across Plentywood, MT.

  3. Alex Turnbull Avatar

    All in the US I’m afraid, but @iebrown wrote us a very funny article back in 2009 on a similar subject:

    http://googlesightseeing.com/2009/03/top-ten-confusing-place-names/

  4. Peter Avatar

    The biggest transportation job in history: Wheeling, West Virginia

    The biggest plumbing job in history: Flushing, New York

    1. Joshua Avatar
      Joshua

      As a native of Flushing, it was named after the Dutch city and port Vlissingen. It was Anglicized to Flushing when New Amsterdam became New York.

      For the biggest plumbing job, you should have been to the American Sanitary Plumbing Museum that was in Worcester, MA.
      http://www.pack91.info/SanitaryMuseum2.htm

      But as of 2008 I believe it closed.
      http://www.telegram.com/article/20080121/NEWS/801210603/1116

      Too bad I never got there while studying at Clark University.

  5. Pfly Avatar
    Pfly

    “Blank to blank”. Very subtle, your Emily Dickinson reference…

  6. Bill Harris Avatar
    Bill Harris

    You have to be careful not to bend Bend, Oregon.

    1. KCJeff Avatar
      KCJeff

      …but if you did; make it a Great Bend (KS).

  7. James D Avatar
    James D

    One certainly hopes that drivers don’t take the name of this village as an instruction, given the road layout ahead!

  8. Origuy Avatar
    Origuy

    You probably won’t find anything good to eat in Gnaw Bone, Indiana.

  9. Fritz Keppler Avatar
    Fritz Keppler

    And watch out for Tick Bite, North Carolina!

  10. Lyn G Avatar
    Lyn G

    I am from Sierra Vista, Arizona which is home to Fort Huachuca. Indeed you can Fry in Fry when it is hot in the summer, and Sierra Vista used to be called Fry but the city changed it name because of the heat association and a falling out with the Fry family. Fry, Arizona is actually an unincorporated county enclave inside of the city limits. The city for some time has been trying to incorporate the unincorporated areas to save on duplicate city resources. It seems the concept of unincorporated country enclaves is a big issue in Arizona. I never heard about this back east when I grew up in Massachusetts. There was a big issue when voters would turn up to a voting site and were given the wrong ballot, as city and non-city residents reported to the same voting precinct in one neighborhood, but non-city residents could not vote for city positions. Rather strange.

    1. Lyn G Avatar
      Lyn G

      Oh and there are more than one county enclaves in Sierra Vista. There is one that is a cemetery for the Fry family, and one that exists solely of a flower shop, Sierra Vista Flowers, though the city might have incorporated that by now. Love your geography site! Geo-nerds unite!

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