These 10 Towns In Northern California Have The Strangest Names You'll Ever See
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Joanne Kraft
Author
When it comes to funny city names, Northern California’s got you covered. Join us now as we take you to 10 places in the northern part of the state that have the weirdest names. You’ll swear the founders weren’t in their right minds – or maybe they were. We’d much rather imagine they just didn’t think things through.
Henry Angell of Rhode Island set up his tents to begin hunting for gold and the name "Angel's Camp" was eventually born. It's where Mark Twain famously wrote his breakout piece, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Legend has it he was inspired while talking with gentlemen at the Angels Hotel in town.
This town is located at both the north and south points of the Salmon River - hence the name. It's unincorporated. I've never been here and the research I read gave two conflicting counties. Maybe you can share in the comments just which county this town is in.
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Close to the Feather River and just miles from Chico sits this pretty city. One source had this to say about the town name: "A legend persists that the town was named because it was the home of the Pair o' Dice Saloon, an idea supported by the fact than an official 1900 railroad map referred to the town as 'Paradice.'" Either way it's a pretty place!
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Located in Siskiyou County, it's only 40 miles from the Oregon border. One resource said, "H. C. Chester, who interviewed Jack Titus in 1882 or 83, states that Titus named the camp because his partner James Camp, upon arriving there, exclaimed "This is the happiest day in my life." There you have it.
Just 40 miles east of Sacramento, this tiny city is in El Dorado County and people who live here love it. Kind of in between Auburn and Placerville, it's a pretty one.
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Here's the post office in Burnt Ranch...proof this tiny town in Trinity County does exist. It has a school and a population of around 300 people.
There is a lot of civil war history here. While others in Calaveras county were looking for gold, folks here were striking it rich in copper. It was a much-needed element for making bullets during the war.
You can find Nice in Lake County by Clear Lake. It has a population of over 2700 folks and was founded in 1930.
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This town is of herculean size, with over 24,000 people who live on the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay.
Yes, this is most definitely a place on the map. I have to say, it's a pretty cool name. How'd they get it? It goes back to the gold rush days. "The first established settlement in Rough and Ready was made in the fall of 1849 by a mining company from Wisconsin, known as the Rough and Ready Company, during the California Gold Rush"
There’s a lot more crazy names where these came from. What about you? Share some of your favorites with us. We might just include them in our next article!
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