On the map: the origins of Indiana's quirkiest town and city names
From names that conjure far-off places to those that feel plucked from a fantasy, Indiana's towns trace a map that is unusually enchanting. Some names were borrowed with ambition, others chosen out of a hat, literally. Here are 11 of the quirkiest town names in Indiana:
This southern Indiana town in Spencer County goes all-in on its name: The town includes 'Jingle Bell Lane," a post office that processes thousands of letters to Santa each year, and the Holiday World theme park that embraces the holiday spirit year-round. But how did the community end up with such a merry moniker?
According to the town's website, the name dates back to a Christmas Eve in the mid-1800s. As debates ensued to find a name for the growing settlement, a gust of wind flung open the doors, and the sound of distant sleigh bells echoed out. Children rushed to the doorway, calling out, 'Santa Claus! Santa Claus!'
On May 21, 1856, the Santa Claus, Indiana Post Office was officially established, cementing the town as forever synonymous with Christmas cheer.
When you hear the name of this north-central Indiana city, you might think llamas, but think bigger: elephants. Once the headquarters for traveling circuses like the Ringling Brothers and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Peru, Indiana in Miami County is the Circus Capital of the World. Today, although elephants no longer appear, that legacy lives on each summer, when local kids perform under the big top during Peru's week-long Circus City Festival, which this year runs from July 11 to 18.
Though many longtime residents still pronounce the name as 'Pee-roo," the town is said to be named after the South American nation. And, the town's history is as colorful as its circus tents. In 1913, a catastrophic flood swept through the area, destroying homes, factories, and circus wagons. One circus suffered more than $150,000 in damages, which translates into more than $3 million today.
Today, you can swing by the International Circus Hall of Fame, visit the birthplace of composer Cole Porter, or watch how a small Indiana town turns into the big top every July.
Founded in 1851, the Newton County town got its name, according to local legend, from a traveler passing through in red-topped Moroccan leather boots. As the story goes, early settlers asked the traveler to suggest a name. He offered up Morocco, and it stuck. Today, the northwest Indiana town's welcome sign still features a red boot.
While you won't find camels here, you might spot bison roaming the prairie, thanks to Kankakee Sands, a nearby nature preserve working to restore native wildlife. Morocco is about an hour away from the sandy dunes of Indiana National Park, but it's a reminder that traces of faraway sands can settle anywhere.
Jackie Spinner, a journalist who lived in the country of Morocco, stumbled upon the Indiana town on a map during a road trip. Her adopted son, born in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, saw the sign and said, 'This doesn't look like Morocco.' Her other son asked where "all the Moroccans were."
Their conversation sparked 'Morocco, Morocco,' Spinner's documentary about the cultural echoes between the two communities despite being worlds apart. The result is a look at identity, imagination, and how places shape the people who call them home.
For such a regal name, the southeastern Indiana town keeps things practical. In Ripley County, Versailles isn't pronounced vair-SIGH, it's ver-SALES. And while many assume the town is named for the French palace, historians trace the origin instead to Frenchman John DePauw. That's about where the French elegance ends. This southeastern Indiana town leans more into pioneer grit than palace glamour.
Versailles sold its first 166 lots for just $815, survived a Civil War raid by Morgan's Raiders -- who looted the courthouse and threatened to burn the town -- and once saw a sheriff chase grave robbers off a cliff.
Between its Revolutionary War-era legends, Civil War drama, and enduring mispronunciation, Versailles proves that a royal name doesn't need a crown. Just a good fairytale-like history.
This rather curiously named Orange County town originated as a French trading post built near a mineral spring and natural salt lick, hence, French Lick. By the late 1800s, the town had blossomed into a full-fledged spa resort, attracting travelers from across the country eager to experience the supposedly healing waters in southern Indiana.
And it turns out, the water really did have an effect.
'When the FDA tested it in the 1970s,' local historian Joe Drabing told WISHTV, 'they found it had lithium in it -- a controlled substance. Everybody was happy.'
If the casino and springs aren't enough, French Lick also has a claim to fame as the birthplace of basketball legend Larry Bird.
The comic sans lettering on the Gas City water tower in Grant County does not give away how this small city got its name from one of Indiana's most energizing eras.
Originally called Harrisburg, the city was renamed Gas City in 1892 after a massive deposit of natural gas was discovered nearby in 1887, which attracted factories and investment.
Hotels, banks, an opera house, a racetrack, and riverboat rides on the Mississinewa River turned the tiny town into a mini metropolis. The population exploded from 150 to over 3,600 in a decade, with some living in tents until homes could be built. As of recently, the east-central Indiana city has not experienced the same growth, only doubling in population since it took off more than 100 years ago.
The history behind the name of this Martin County city is puzzling even to residents: is it a mashup of two early settlers' names? Or the name of a founder's wife? Here are the five theories:
Some say it was a mashup of Thomas Gootee, who filed the original town plat in 1853, and a railroad engineer, Mr. Loo. It could have also been a mashup with another engineer, Lowe. Or, DeLoo, surveyor of the tract. Others insist the town started as Waterloo, until the post office shot it down for duplication and someone suggested adding the last syllable of Waterloo (Loo) to Gootee. Others have said that the town was named in honor of Thomas' wife, Lucinda Gootee.However the name came about, this western Indiana city's name is a fun one to say. Or try to say.
Originally called Osceola, the town was renamed Advance in 1820 anticipation of the arrival of the Midland Railway. The Midland was expected to transform the town into a booming hub and connect northern Indiana to St. Louis without going through Indianapolis, according to the Indiana Transportation History blog.
Instead, the route became one of the least successful lines in the state, and Advance experienced little of the prosperity town officials once pictured.
Today, in northwest Boone County, the main streets are quiet and lots sit empty. But, Advance is still holding on with a little over 500 residents.
There's not much rainforest in Clay County, but there is Brazil, Indiana, named, like many Midwestern cities, after far-off places that evoked opportunity. Brazil does not offer samba, but it does have 43 saloons. Or, at least it did in 1906.
Brazil got its name in 1838, when settler William Stewart from Massachusetts suggested 'Brazil' as a short, memorable name for the new settlement to commemorate the revolution he had heard about in South America.
The country of Brazil eventually took notice of the City of Brazil. In 1956, the Brazilian ambassador visited Brazil, Indiana to help dedicate a replica of the Chafariz dos Contos, a historic fountain from the city of Ouro Preto, Brazil.
Made up of six man-made lakes and just a few hundred residents, Shamrock Lakes in Blackford County is Indiana's smallest incorporated town. The first lake, dug in the early 1960s, was shaped roughly like a shamrock leaf, which inspired the developer to lean into the Irish motif. According to the town's website, it is "one of only 5 cities in the United States that bears the symbolic emblem of Ireland."
Shamrock Lakes offers a few cozy pubs and plenty of stone-skipping horizons — just enough to let you pretend you are in County Cork halfway between Fort Wayne and Indianapolis.
Some pick rabbits out of hats, others draw town names.
Utica, Indiana, a small Clark County town, mirrors the name of the city in upstate New York. In 1798, a group of settlers in New York gathered at Bagg's Tavern to name their community and picked "Utica" out of a hat, the story goes, a name that honored the ancient Roman city.
The origin tale of Utica shows that history can be found in the most unexpected places, even at the bottom of a hat.
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