Guest Author - Beth Green

Every state has cities and towns with somewhat odd or weird names. Have you ever wondered where some of these names came from? I started looking at maps of different states and started making lists of some of the more unusual place names that I saw.

Iowa was the first state I started looking at. Iowa definitely has its share of odd place names.

Correctionville’s 5th Street is located along the east-west correction line used by surveyors to line up the main north-south street and land boundaries. The town’s name is also the longest place name in the state.

The town of What Cheer was named for an Old English greeting that was used to acknowledge friends.

Diagonal is a town that was founded at the crossing of the H & S and Diagonal Railroads.

Zwingle is in Northeast Iowa and is part of the Dubuque metropolitan area.

In northern Iowa about 20 miles south of the Minnesota state line is the town of Fertile.

Fruitland is southwest of Iowa City near the Iowa-Illinois state line.

Waterloo is named after the Belgian town where Napoleon finally lost to the British.

Many Iowa town names have Native American origins. Titonka was originally called Ripley, but changed its name after it was discovered that there was another Iowa town with a similar name. Titonka was suggested by Captain Ingram, a citizen of the town, as a tribute to a successful buffalo hunt he had taken part in several decades earlier near the site of the town. Titonka means “Big Black”, which the American Indians used to call herds of buffalo.

Ottumwa is a river town in southern Iowa that means ‘rippling water’.

In northeast Iowa, in the Spirit Lake area, is Okoboji, which is said to mean ‘field of grass’ or ‘spreading out’.

The state’s name even has Native American roots. Iowa was named after the Iowa River, which in turn was named for the territorial Indians. The word Iowa means ‘one who puts to sleep’.

Other unusual town names in Iowa include Gravity, Killduff, Quimby, Rake, Imogene, Manly, Stout, Wick, and Beebeetown.