Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misstated the location of Fredonia in northern Arizona.
Arizona has its fair share of oddly named cities and towns scattered across the state.
Strawberry often takes people by Surprise. Top-of-the-World leaves many wondering, Why? And Nothing prepares you for Tortilla Flat.
Other names like Bumble Bee, Chloride or Happy Jack are part of the ongoing list that makes many ponder what could have led the early Arizona settlers to end up with such a whimsical collection of names.
But as much as they leave many confused, most of these catchy names have stories as unique as their names, offering a glimpse into Arizona's past.
Here are some of Arizona's most unique place names and where they are believed to come from.
Bumble Bee
Bumble Bee is now a small, quiet ghost town off Interstate 17, about 50 miles southeast of Prescott. The area, however, was once a lively stage stop on a route known as "the Phoenix Road," the main thoroughfare between Phoenix and Flagstaff — both small towns at the time.
The area was called Snyder's Station after Warner W. Snyder, the owner of the stagecoach building. But why did its name change to Bumble Bee?
According to records from the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, there are many versions of how the town's name came to be. There is a story about soldiers camping along the creek who reported seeing a group of Native Americans who were "as thick as bees in a beehive." A different version says that early settlers fought with bumble bees at the creek over water rights, with the settlers losing. But none of these stories seem to be conclusive, said Andrew Somerville with the museum's research center.
There is, however, one version that Somerville considers more favored by the records — and like many tales and fables in Arizona, it has to do with gold.
Bumble Bee was from its onset an alluring spot for gold prospectors who would search for promised riches at the town's nearby creeks. Museum records suggest one of those adventures, around 1863, would bring about the adoption of its curious name.
According to museum researchers, a group of prospectors found a bumble bee's nest full of honey on the cliffs along the creek. Several in the party were reportedly badly stung, "so they named it Bumble Bee Creek," Somerville said.
Somerville said there is a personal account of this version from the nephew of one of the prospectors who were reportedly stung at the cliffs by the creek.
The town later changed its name to Bumble Bee around 1870 after the creek, Somerville said.
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Why
If you have made the famous summer trip to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, you have likely made your way through this curiously named Arizona town and found yourself asking the silly question: why Why?
Located in southwestern Arizona just north of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Why has a population of 122, according to a 2020 census. The unincorporated town sits at the junction of state routes 85 and 86, which formed a "Y" shaped intersection when built. Because of this, people in the area would refer to their home as located at the "Y."
The community grew and state authorities needed to record an official town name for a post office to be established. However, state law requires all Arizona city names to be at least three letters long, so the unofficial "Y" couldn't be used.
Residents came up with Why and it's been that way ever since.
Although the Arizona Department of Transportation eventually moved the highway intersection south and changed it to a traditional "T" intersection structure for safety, visitors on their way to Rocky Point, also known as Puerto Peñasco, can still experience the town's amusing history.
Show Low
As the story goes, Marion Clark and Corydon Cooley homesteaded a swath of land in the White Mountains in 1870 but had a falling out and decided to dissolve the partnership with a card game.
They played long into the night. A weary Clark finally told Cooley, “Show low and you take the ranch.” Cooley turned over the two of clubs, winning the land and providing the name of the future town.
Located on the Mogollon Rim in eastern Arizona, Show Low is now an incorporated city with a population of about 12,000, according to a 2022 census.
The local legend would also explain why the main drag through Show Low is called Deuce of Clubs.
Surprise
According to the city's official website, the name was taken from a comment from its founder Flora Mae Statler.
Statler's daughter Elizabeth Wusich Stoft said that when the city was just one square mile of farmland around 1938, her mother once commented she would be "surprised if the town ever amounted to much."
But the small town did amount a lot. So much so that it became the 10th largest city in Arizona, to what would be Statler's surprise. And that's how the city got its name.
Now a sprawling suburban city in the northwest Phoenix area, Surprise continues to grow and develop. The original one square mile of farmlands still exists and is called the Original Townsite.
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Top-of-the-World
The name of this town seems to promise more than it delivers.
Located in both Gila and Pinal counties, between Superior and Globe, Top-of-the-World is an unincorporated town of about 230 residents, according to Niche.com, a website that ranks and evaluates places to live.
When you hear the name, you might imagine a place teetering atop a high peak with a view of an astonishing landscape. Top-of-the-World sure has a rural charm and is surrounded by stunning pine forests, but its name might not live up to the expectations it evokes.
Some believe the name is a misnomer from a camping and recreation facility created in 1922 by the old alignment of U.S. 60, about two miles west of current Top-of-the-World.
Nothing
Nothing today is nothing more than a tiny ghost town off of the U.S. 93, south of Wikieup.
But there was a time when Nothing bustled. Well, it bustled as much as a town of four residents ever does, but at least it was open for business.
You could pull off the road, gas up and enjoy a cold drink in that desert outback with the sun setting beyond distant mountains. The area's gas station, store and residential life are now gone.
It is unclear where the name came from, but it brought the town a measure of fame. Nothing was something in those days.
Santa Clause
What is left of this town in the northwestern corner of the state on U.S. 93 is the crumbling ruins of what was planned to be a lively area.
A developer’s plan for a Christmas-themed resort never really panned out on the edge of the Mohave Desert in northwestern Arizona. All that remains are a few abandoned buildings covered with graffiti.
Tombstone
The name of this town located about 75 miles southeast of Tucson has to do with a gold prospector named Ed Schieffelin.
Schieffelin was said to be a down-on-his-luck miner who landed at the newly established Camp Huachuca in 1877. When he began his search for gold in the hills across the San Pedro Valley, he was warned that all he would find would be his tombstone.
Yet, Schieffelin soon discovered rich ledges of silver, making him a wealthy man. He named his first claim Tombstone. Today that would be known as a clapback.
Skull Valley
While one might hope that Skull Valley got its moniker from a head-shaped rock, there's a more somber story behind the name.
It is said that when white explorers and settlers first arrived at this valley 17 miles west of Prescott, they found a gruesome collection of skulls and other human bones scattered about the countryside town. The carnage was the result of warring Indian tribes.
Globe
According to the city's website, there's a local legend about the origin of the name that, once more, revolves around precious metals hiding beneath the desert soil.
The legend has it that the town is named after a globe-shaped piece of pure silver discovered in a nearby mine. Globe and Miami, which have been important copper mining centers in the state for over a century, are communities about four miles apart in east-central Arizona.
Strawberry
Strawberry is a picturesque community just north of Pine and about 20 minutes north of Payson.
According to the Gila County Adventure Forum, early settlers gave the community its unique name around 1877 inspired by the wild strawberries that grew across the land.In his book, "Roadside History of Arizona,"state historian Marshall Trimble saidthe Strawberry Valleyhad been used seasonally by cowboys to graze livestock before the first permanent white settlers arrived in 1877. The community'sname came from an abundance of wild strawberries that grew in the area, Trimble writes.
Fredonia
Located at the border with Utah, about 80 miles west of Page, Fredonia has nothing to do with the Marx Brothers movie, "Duck Soup." Groucho Marx plays Rufus T. Firefly, leader of the small bankrupt country Freedonia.
According to the Arizona city's website, "Fredonia" was a term coined by a New York politician shortly after 1800 to mean “place of freedom.”
