Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Most Gothic Place Names in the United States--Arizona



[For previous entries, click the "Most Gothic Place Names" label under Features in the right sidebar.]

To my surprise, there was a dearth of worthy candidates here (Alaska actually provided better material).  But I did find appellations such as Chambers (I shudder to think of the bloody deeds taking place behind closed doors in this town), Crookton (at least they're honest about their dishonesty), Chaney Place (Population: 1--but the man has a thousand faces), Pumpkin Center (Halloween's southwestern headquarters?), Midway (sounds like a perfect spot for Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Show), and Dagger (the most likely place in America to get stabbed in the back).  I will have to go with the obvious here, though, and award the title of Most Gothic Place Name in Arizona to...

Tombstone.  The very name originated from a bit of grim humor: a soldier told silver prospector Ed Schieffelin that the only rock he was bound to collect in that waterless, Apache-full region was his own tombstone.  There's just a wonderfully rhythmic aspect to "Tombstone, Arizona" (imagine equivalents like "Casket, Alaska" or "Funeral Urn, New Jersey").  And it's hard not to appreciate the macabre quality of a town name that heralds the ultimate monument raised for every resident.

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