02-07-2025
Poll: What is the strangest town name in New Mexico?
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – With hundreds of cities, small towns, villages, and unincorporated territories, New Mexico is home to plenty of places with unique names. The stories behind those names are often just as interesting. KRQE asked viewers via social media what they considered to be the strangest town name in the Land of Enchantment.
Poll: What's the best small town in New Mexico?
Here are the top answers from News 13 viewers:
Truth or Consequences
Pie Town
Weed
Albuquerque
Jal
Tijeras
Alamogordo
Carrizozo
Nutt
Raton
Truchas
Tucumcari
Zuzax
After a radio show contest, the city of Hot Springs renamed itself Truth or Consequences. Ralph Edwards, host of the NBC Radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced in March 1950 that he would host the show on its tenth anniversary in the first town that changed its name after the show. Hot Springs officially changed its name on March 31, 1950, and the program was broadcast from that location the following evening. For the next fifty years, Edwards would come to town on the first weekend in May. This gathering, which was later dubbed Fiesta, featured a stage show, a parade, and a beauty pageant. Every year on the first weekend of May, the city continues to celebrate Fiesta. Local officials, the winner of the Hatch Chile Queen pageant, and the previous year's Miss Fiesta pageant queen usually participate in the procession. In Ralph Edwards Park, Fiesta also includes a dance.
Pie Town is well known for its interesting moniker. Norman Smith, a successful miner and general store owner who made pies for westbound tourists, is credited with giving Pie Town its famous name. Every September, on the second Saturday, Pie Town hosts a 'Pie Festival.'
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Several towns on this list were named for specific people, from town founders to significant residents to Spanish dukes. Weed was named after William H. Weed, who established a branch store there. Hailing from Alburquerque, Badajoz, in southwest Spain, Viceroy Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 10th Duke of Alburquerque, gave the city of Albuquerque its name. Jal was named for a herd of cattle branded with John A. Lynch's (JAL) initials. Nutt was founded by, and named for, H.C. Nutt.
When translated from Spanish to English, a few of these town names seem more peculiar; for example, Tijeras, meaning 'scissors,' Raton, meaning 'mouse,' and Truchas, meaning 'trout.'
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Some names originated from Spanish or Native American languages and were adapted into neologisms, or newly coined words. A grove of robust cottonwoods close to the Pecos River area inspired the name Alamogordo, which is derived from the Spanish álamo gordo, meaning 'large/fat cottonwood.' The name Carrizozo comes from the Spanish word carrizo, which means 'reed grass,' which is quite common in the region. In order to indicate the abundance of carrizo grass, the extra 'zo' was added at the end of the town's name. Named for Tucumcari Mountain, Tucumcari may have originated from the Comanche word tʉkamʉkarʉ, meaning 'ambush.' Zuzax, an entirely original name, was coined by entrepreneur Herman Adams, who opened a curio shop in the area around 1956 and named the town so that it would be the last entry in phone books.
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