In every state across this great nation, there are cities with strange and unusual names. I've always been fascinated when I've come upon a city to find out why it was given the name it has. Sometimes the story is pretty straightforward, like it was named for its founder, or in honor of someone, but other times it's more interesting.

When I lived in South Carolina there was a town there named Sugar Tit, SC. Well, obviously I had to know where that name came from. Sugar Tit received its name when the men spent so long socializing at the local general store, their wives complained they took to the store as a baby to a sugar tit. When I lived in Michigan I just had to find out why the town of Hell, MI was named that. Turns out  In the 1830s, the town settler, George Reeves, made a deal with local farmers to trade his homemade whiskey for the grain they grew. When the farmer’s wives knew their husbands were off dealing with Reeves, they were known to remark, “He’s gone to hell again.” The name stuck, according to Mental Floss.

So what about towns and cities right here in the Capital District? Well, they might not be as funny as Sugar Tit or Hell, but it's still pretty interesting how our local cities got their names.

 

How Capital Region Towns Got Their Names

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