Monday, December 6, 2010

Oregon: No Town to Call Its Own?

 Two weeks ago, my family and I embarked on a road trip, north from California, to Washington.  But first, we had to cross Oregon.  During the six, or so, hours we spent driving through beautiful Oregon, I got a chance to read a lot of road signs.  It was then that I began to wonder if Oregon had a single town to call it's own.  Portland?  There is a better-known one in Maine.  Salem?  Most people think of Massachusetts.  But it does not stop with just the big Oregon cities. The state has several towns and cities with better known counterparts. I submit the following::

Fairbanks (Alaska)
Pheonix (Arizona)
Charleston (South Carolina)
Durham (North Carolina)
Vale and Aurora (Colorado)
Jacksonville (Florida)
Lafayette (Georgia)
Peoria and Elgin (Illinois)
Wichita and Kansas City (Kansas)--Kansas City? Seriously, Oregon, you aren't even trying, here.
Lexington (Kentucky)
Bunker Hill (Massachusetts)
Detroit and Saginaw (Michigan)
Independence (Missouri)
Albany (New York)
Toledo and Dayton(Ohio)
Pittsburg (Pennsylvania)
Newport (Rhode Island)
Nashville (Tennessee)
Dallas, Austin and Brownsville (Texas)
Arlington and Mount Vernon (Virginia)
Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
Wheeler (West Virginia)
Ontario (Canada)
Rome and Florence (Italy)
London (England)
Berlin (Germany)
Kingston (Jamaica) 
Damascus (Syria)
Holland, Norway, and Denmark
Sparta and Troy

There is also a Springfield, Oregon, but as there are equally well-known Springfields in Massachusetts, Illinois, Missouri, and that place where the Simpsons live, I'll give Oregon the benefit of the doubt.  They might have been the original.

I was wrong though.  It turns out that Oregon has many original towns within its borders.  Like:

Bend and Zigzag.
Aloha and Paradise.
Brothers and Sisters.
Lime and Peel.
Boring and Remote.
Nonpareil and Sublimity.
Amity and Friend.
Bridal Veil and Diamond.
Talent and Tangent, Trail and Drain.
Promise and Prospect.
Wagontire, Echo, Fossil.
Sixes, but no Fives of Sevens.
The Dalles (When one Dalle is not enough.  And, what is a Dalle?).
The unfortunately named Wankers Corner, and no I did not get this from the internet.  I have an actual atlas.

And, my favorite, Half.com.  This has to be a publicity stunt, doesn't it?  Give us money, we will let you name our town.  And since www.half.com is a division of Amazon, I think I am right.

So, you see, Oregon does have some towns to call its own.  And others are for sale.

4 comments:

  1. Half.com....really?
    Think I like the idea of living in a town called Sublimity.

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  2. I'm sure glad I don't live in Boring, Oregon. My teenagers already complain enough about this town's lack of stuff to do!

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  3. There is a Paradise, California - not that you'd really want to go there...
    Oh, and there is a "The Dalles" Wisconsin - I think it boast the largest indoor water park in the US if not the world!
    Love your outlook!! I don't think I would have noticed!!!

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  4. Why wouldn't you want to go to Paradise, CA? It is a beautiful mountain town east of Chico and on "the ridge". Look before you speak of someplace you actually know nothing about.

    www.theretiredtrucker.weebly.com

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