Weird and Unusual Arkansas City and Town Names

Arkansas must be a little less conservative than our Bible Belt placement suggests.  You'll find Weiner, Arkansas in Poinsett County (population around 800) and Bald Knob, Arkansas in White County (population around 3000).  Townships get even crazier.  You can get spanked in Fannie, AR (Montgomery County), or, if that doesn't work out, head to Blue Ball (Scott County).  You can forget about that last town if you go to Threeway, a township in Mississippi County.  For you puritans, you can also find Romance in Arkansas.  It's located in White County.

Friendship is a town located in Hot Spring County.  There's only 200 people living there, but I bet they all know each other!  They're probably also friends with the folks that live in Fairplay, Arkansas, a township in Saline County.  Promised Land is located in Poinsett County.   Who knew?  You might find someone to confirm the promised land exists in the Wisemen township in Izard County.  There's also a Blue Eye Arkansas, located in Carroll County.  I bet they serve apple pie there.

One the best Arkansas names is Possum Grape, Arkansas (an unincorporated community in Jackson County).  Possum grapes are a common, wild berry found in Arkansas.  Toad Suck, Arkansas (also a community in Perry County) is very well known.   You can also find Monkey Run in Baxter County.  Wonder if that's a commentary on the officials there?  You can visit Locust Bayou in Calhoun County, but be sure to pack your bug spray.

I wonder what kind of people you'd find in Goobertown, a community in Craighead County?  Probably the same kind you'd find in Hicksville township in Phillips County.  For some reason, I'm picturing  Mayberry.  On the other hand, Nimrod, a community in Perry, makes me picture a town of Barney Fifes.  Of course, all the people there are probably very nice and not at all like Mayberry or Barney Fife.  Greasy Corner, a community in St. Francis County, is probably very clean, despite it's name.  I'm sure Stinking Bay, a community in Arkansas County, smells just fine.

Tomato is a farming community in Mississippi County.  Strawberry is a town in Lawrence Count.  I wonder if each of these towns has their own weird food festival.

Every list of weird names has Smackover, Arkansas, a city in Union County (population around 2000).  According to Ernie Deane's Arkansas Place Names, the source of the name appears to have been the French term "Chemin Couvert,” meaning covered way, likely a reference to a trail leading to the creek.  Many Arkansas names come from French words or native American words (and some from a mix).  Most could not even pronounce Solgohachia, a community in Conway County.  It is Choctaw for muscadine river.

Arkansas has its own Austin, Charleston, Delaware, Houston, Jersey, Newark, Omaha, Portland, Poughkeepsie, Salem, Springdale and Springfield.  You can see a lot of the major US cities without even leaving home.

If just staying in the major US cities isn't for you, you can also travel the world in Arkansas.  You can visit Egypt, Scotland, London, Paris, Jerusalem, Jericho, Manila, Palestine, Havana and Melbourne.   Just don't expect them to have the same accents.