Most People Don’t Know The Meaning Behind These 14 Georgia Town Names
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Lisa Sammons
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Here in the Peach State, we can get a little quirky. In fact, some outsiders might feel like Georgia has its own language because some of our phrases can be so strange. It’s not just our day-to-day language, either. Even some of our county and city names are a little strange. Here are 14 of the weirdest town names in Georgia:
Between is a little town in Walton County with a population of around 402. Conveniently enough, the town is right in between Athens and Atlanta, and many believe that's where the name came from. However, when the town was incorporated in 1908, its name actually came from the fact it was right in between Walton County's two largest cities, Loganville and Monroe.
Experiment is a census-designated place just outside of Griffin named because it houses a University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station. Faculty conduct numerous experiments here, including work on food safety and crop management.
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Hopeulikit (pronounced hope-you-like-it) is a small community just outside of Statesboro in Bulloch County. The town was named for a popular dance hall that once resided here in the 1920s. The dance hall is long gone, but you can still find the delicious Hopeulikit BBQ here, so come hungry!
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Flippen is an oddly-named little community in Henry County that's actually part of McDonough. The community was established when the railroad was extended to its borders, and was, fittingly enough, named after a railroad agent named Mr. Flippen.
The next few places on this list do not necessarily have strange names, but it is a little odd that so many Georgia cities are named for far-away places. Dublin is a city in Middle Georgia named after the capital of Ireland because the region's appearance reminded Irish settlers of their homeland.
In 1785, the nation's first state university, the University of Georgia, was established in an area then known as Cedar Shoals. The city surrounding the university was renamed Athens after the Classical Greek city that housed the famed Academy of Plato and Aristotle.
You can continue a world tour without ever leaving Georgia with a visit to Rome. The city was built on a series of seven hills, a feature it shared with Italy's capital, so settlers named it Rome.
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While decidedly less exotic than Athens, Dublin, or Rome, we've also got a Dallas here in Georgia. It's not named for the city in Texas, but instead for George Dallas, the Vice President under James K. Polk. (The origins of the name Dallas, Texas are unknown.)
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Dacula, an Atlanta exurb, has a name that confuses many outsiders. It's pronounced "duh-kyoo-luh" and was named for its proximity to Decatur and Atlanta.
Thunderbolt is a small town right alongside the Wilmington River, not far from Savannah. It was originally known as Warsaw. The name was changed to Thunderbolt in 1921, allegedly after lightning struck the ground and caused a spring to open up.
Social Circle is a small city right on the border between Walton and Newton Counties. According to legend, the name was given to the area when settlers there offered water to a traveler and he quipped "this certainly is a social circle."
Butts County was not named for the derrière, but rather for Samuel Butts, a militia officer killed in the Creek War.
Ty Ty is a small city in Tift County named for a nearby creek that shares its name. The tributary of Warrior Creek gets its name from the Swamp Cyrilla, also known as titi trees, that grows along the banks.
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The Rock isn't too far from Thomaston. Its name is derived from a large boulder near the highway where stagecoach drivers once left mail. It was said that if you addressed letters to "The Rock, Georgia," they'd arrive safely. The original rock is no longer standing, but there's a historical marker commemorating its status as a proto-Post Office.
Were you familiar with the origins of any of these strange town names in Georgia? Do you know of any other interesting city or county names in the state? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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