(WHNT) — North Alabama isn’t just home to things like beautiful nature and bustling cities – it’s also home to towns with some of the most bizarre names in the state.
Most of the strangest names belong to unincorporated communities throughout the area. However, others belong to well-known towns with thriving populations of Alabamians living just outside some very notable and busy anchor cities like Huntsville, Florence, and Decatur.
News 19 compiled a list of the most unique town and city names across North Alabama, from the Shoals all the way to Fort Payne.
Bucksnort
Where is it? Bucksnort is an unincorporated community in Marshall County, Ala. near Grant and Guntersville.
The tiny town of Bucksnort, originally named Keel, had an operating post office from the later part of the 19th century all the way until 1907.
Chicken Foot Mountain
Where is it? Chicken Foot Mountain is an unincorporated community in Lawrence County, southeast of Courtland and Terry Heights.
Dogtown
Where is it? Dogtown is an unincorporated community in DeKalb County, near the City of Fort Payne.
Dogtown has been known by several names, including Cagle’s Crossroads and Ruhama. It earned the “Dogtown” moniker due to the many hunters with dogs in the area. It is also home to the locally-known Akins Furniture.
Punkin Center
Where is it? Punkin Center is an unincorporated community in Morgan County located near the halfway point between Hartselle and Moulton.
Punkin Center is nearly dead-center between the cities of Hartselle and Moulton. It is home to the Punkin Center General Store and protected by firefighters at the Punkin Center Volunteer Fire Station #1.
Chigger Hill
Where is it? Chigger Hill is an unincorporated community between Fyffe and Geraldine in DeKalb County.
How does a place like Chigger Hill earn that name? According to a 1989 news clipping from the Cherokee County Herald, the name stems from the community’s settlers finding the area to be a hill covered by “larvae of pesky mites.”
Lickskillet
Where is it? Lickskillet is an unincorporated community near Hazel Green in Madison County.
According to our news partners at AL.com, the community is located at the intersection of Butter and Egg Road and Charity Lane.
Rash
Where is it? Rash is an unincorporated community in Jackson County, just outside of Stevenson.
According to Jim Forte Postal History, a post office existed in Rash from 1901 to 1956. The community itself was named after a local resident, William Rash. It also used to be home to Coffey’s Store, another name that “Rash” goes by.
Scarce Grease
Where is it? Scarce Grease is an unincorporated community in Limestone County, located near the Tennessee line below Lester.
Scarce Grease operated a post office under the name Rockaway for 13 years during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Buzzard Roost
Where is it? Buzzard Roost is an unincorporated community in Colbert County, about three miles west of Cherokee.
Buzzard Roost was named by Chickasaw Bench Chief Levi Colbert in 1801, according to waymarking.com. An exhibit detailing Colbert’s life and his family’s stake in Buzzard Roost are part of the Natchez Trace Parkway System.
Buzzard Roost was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s.
