1

Chili

From Nahuatl chīlli , referring to the hot pepper central to Mesoamerican cuisine.

Chili peppers shaped food traditions across the Americas. The word—and the plant—spread globally, influencing flavors from Asia to Europe.

2

Chocolate

"Chocolate" comes from the Nahuatl word xocolātl , used by the Aztecs for a bitter cacao drink.

Cacao was central to Mesoamerican culture, used in rituals, trade, and even as currency. Europeans adapted it—sweetening it and spreading it worldwide. Today, chocolate is a global industry worth billions.

3

Canoe

From the Carib kana:wa , "canoe" described small, lightweight boats used by Indigenous peoples across the Americas.

European explorers borrowed both the vessel and the word for river and coastal navigation. Today, "canoeing" is a popular recreational activity worldwide.

4

Hurricane

From the Taíno hurakán , meaning "god of the storm," the word was adopted by Spanish explorers.

Hurricanes shaped Caribbean history, influencing trade, settlement, and agriculture. English speakers retained the term, giving rise to a scientific and meteorological vocabulary.

5

Barbecue

From the Taíno barbacoa , describing a framework for slow-cooking meat over fire.

Barbacoa influenced American culinary traditions, evolving into the modern barbecue. The word traveled with colonists, preserving its Indigenous culinary roots.

6

Opossum

From the Powhatan apasum , meaning "white animal," early colonists mispronounced it as "opossum."

North American opossums became part of colonial diets and local ecosystems. The word also illustrates how Indigenous terms influenced wildlife terminology in English.

7

Pecan

From Algonquian pakan , meaning "nuts requiring a stone to crack."

Pecans were staple foods for Indigenous peoples, and European settlers adopted both the nut and its name. Today, pecans are central to American desserts like pies and pralines.

8

Squash

From Narragansett askutasquash , meaning "eaten raw or uncooked."

Squash was a foundational crop in the "Three Sisters" agricultural system alongside maize and beans. Europeans embraced the plant, retaining the Indigenous name.

9

Chipmunk

From Ojibwe ajidamoo , meaning "one who descends trees headfirst."

Colonists adapted both the word and the animal’s name, preserving the Ojibwe reference. Today, chipmunks are iconic North American wildlife.

10

Tomahawk

From Powhatan tamahak , describing a small axe used for hunting and combat.

European colonists adopted both the tool and the word, which became iconic in North American frontier history. Today, tomahawks are primarily ceremonial or sporting tools.

11

Coyote

From Nahuatl coyotl , describing a canid known for its adaptability and cunning.

Coyotes thrive in both urban and rural environments. The word entered English through Spanish, reflecting both biological and cultural observation.

1

Frying Pan Road

Image: Ashwini Chaudhary(Monty)

As we discuss our first entry on the list, we must prepare you for the incoming spoonful of roads and streets named after various things, starting with the namesake one. There is a suburb in Hendon, Virginia with a community named Fryin Pan that dates back to at least the 1700s. However, in the 1890s, they changed the name to Floris. The original name has remained as a road.

2

Chicken Dinner Road

Image: Karyna Panchenko

Believe it or not, there is a road in Idaho called Chicken Dinner. According to the main story, the origin of the name lies with a resident who lobbied the governor to improve the road outside her house. Laura Lamb was known for her chicken, and when a couple of vandals painted the words "Lamb's Chicken Dinner Avenue" on the freshly oiled road, they inadvertently christened the street with the name that is known today.

3

Bad Route Road

Image: Markus Spiske

While the name doesn’t sound very enticing, a trip down this residential Montana street may not be as bad an idea as it sounds. This street possibly received its unfortunate name from Bad Route Creek, an offshoot of the Yellowstone River. The creek's name itself may have originated from the difficult conditions and the challenges faced by early explorers and settlers in the region.

4

Psycho Path

Image: Jorge Salvador

It was voted as the nation’s wackiest street name, and for good reason. Psycho Path is a small private road in Traverse City, Michigan . Owners of private roads can register whatever name they choose with the local authorities. We prefer to think that the owner of this road is not a particularly dangerous person but rather someone with a sense of humor.

5

Alcohol Mary Road

Image: Timothé Durand

A memorable street named, indeed—Alcohol Mary Road in Greenwood, Maine, is named after a local woman who was known for producing alcohol during the Prohibition years. To the residents, it symbolizes the town's spirit of independence.

The Hertell family, who lives on the road and has a family matriarch named Mary, has grown tired of fielding questions about whether their beloved grandmother was an outlaw.

6

Zzyzx Road

Image: Diego Jimenez

Sounds like "Six Six," but it’s not spelled in the same way. Not only is there a town in Southern California named Zzyzx, but there is also a street that leads to the town.

According to the story, Curtis Howe Springer created the name Zzyzx and gave it to the area in 1944, claiming it to be the last word in the English language.

7

Five Forks Trickum Road

Image: Prayag Tejwani

There is a road in Gwinnett County, Georgia , named Five Forks Trickum Road, which has only four forks. The reason for this is simple: in decades past, it once had a five-fork intersection.

As for the "Trickum" part, local lore suggests that this comes from a shop owner who once lived there, and often swindled customers out of their money.

8

Liquid Laughter Lane

Image: Surface

A poetic image if we ever heard one, Liquid Laughter Lane is a real street in Columbia, Maryland . When the local community was planned, names for the streets were needed and the team in charge of coming up with these names resorted to statistics, demographics, and geographical locations, among common elements. But they also took inspiration from things like literature and poetry, which helped them come up with beautiful names like Liquid Laughter Lane.

9

Pig’s Eye Lake Road

Image: Fabian Blank

Pig’s Eye Lake Road is a nod to an actual person named Pierre "Pig’s Eye" Parrent (nicknamed as such because he had only one eye), who played an important role in the history of St. Paul and Minnesota . He established a tavern that served as a meeting place for traders and settlers, making it a focal point in the community.

Today, Pig's Eye Lake Road continues to serve as a reminder of the area's history and the colorful characters who contributed to its development.

10

Ninth and a Half Street

Image: Nick Hillier

Since the second part of an address is typically a number, it is advisable to name the first part with a word rather than another number; however, there are exceptions. Ninth and a Half Street runs along the north-south boundary between what used to be Old Nebraska City and South Nebraska City (which now make up Nebraska City).

If you are wondering where this name came from, it has to do with the fact that the city was formed from three preexisting cities, and when they went to rename the streets of the newly formed city, the numbers didn’t quite line up.

1

New Hampshire: Constitution and potatoes

Image: Spenser Sembrat

New Hampshire was a pioneer in colonial America: They were the first colony to establish its own constitutional government. But its tastiest contribution? Potatoes!

In 1719, Scotch-Irish immigrants near Londonderry planted the first permanent potato crops. The tubers quickly became a staple and spread across the colonies only to become the most consumed vegetable in the country. Plus, New Hampshire even declared the potato its official state vegetable in 2013. Who knew potatoes had such historical roots?

2

Massachusetts: Named after the original inhabitants

Image: Wei Zeng

When English settlers arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, they weren’t stepping onto empty land. Indigenous peoples had called the area home for thousands of years.

The colony’s name, Massachusetts, honors the Massachusett tribe. Derived from the Algonquian word Massa-adchu-es-et , it translates to "great hill-small place." Even as history tells a more complicated story about their interactions with the settlers, it’s a nice tribute to the land's original inhabitants.

3

Connecticut’s secret tree

Image: Christopher Luther

Connecticut’s colonial history has a touch of mystery and rebellion . In 1662, the colony was granted a royal charter ensuring its right to self-govern by King Charles II. After his death, in 1686, King James II tried to revoke it.

Legend has it that, during a heated debate, the charter was spirited away during a momentary blackout and hidden in the hollow trunk of a white oak tree. The "Charter Oak" became a symbol of freedom and self-determination, and it’s now honored as Connecticut’s official state tree.

4

Rhode Island: Refuge for the rejected

Image: Demure Storyteller

The colonies were revolutionary, but some views were too progressive for the era. That is why Roger Williams, Rhode Island’s founder, was banished from Massachusetts . He had progressive views on religious freedom and so he found sanctuary in what later became Rhode Island.

In 1636, he purchased land from the Narragansett people and founded a colony based on the separation of church and state. It became a haven for minority religious groups like Baptists, Quakers, and Jews.

5

New York: From New Netherland to a global capital

Image: Benjamín Gremler

Before it was New York, it was New Netherland, a bustling Dutch colony founded in 1624. The Dutch established New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, but in 1664, the English seized the territory and renamed it after the Duke of York.

New York grew rapidly, eventually becoming the first capital of the United States after the Revolutionary War. It’s amazing to think this vibrant city started as a modest Dutch trading post.

6

New Jersey’s devilish legend

Image: Benjamin Ashton

The Pine Barrens of New Jersey are home to one of America’s oldest and creepiest legends : the Jersey Devil. Do you know how it goes?

According to folklore, a woman named Mother Leeds cursed her 13th child, who was born as a monstrous creature, and fled into the forest. The tale, rooted in both colonial superstition and Indigenous folklore, has been passed down for centuries, keeping imaginations alive, and visitors on edge, in the Garden State.

7

Pennsylvania: The King’s debt becomes a colony

Image: The Body

Pennsylvania owes its existence to a royal, and quite big, IOU. King Charles II granted William Penn the land in 1681 as payment for a debt owed to Penn’s father.

Penn established the colony as a safe haven for Quakers, emphasizing religious tolerance and fair dealings with Indigenous peoples. Pennsylvania, clearly named after the family’s name, became a model of diversity and coexistence, attracting settlers of all faiths and backgrounds.

8

Delaware: The First to Declare Independence

Image: Demure Storyteller

Independence from Britain? They all did that, but Delaware took it a step further! Though initially governed as part of Pennsylvania, Delaware established its own legislature in 1704.

On June 15, 1776, this colony declared independence not just from Britain but also from Pennsylvania, making it the first colony to break away formally . Known as the "First State" for ratifying the US Constitution in 1787, Delaware’s pioneering spirit is woven into its history.

9

Maryland: A pirate colony?

Image: Luisa Frassier

Maryland’s early days weren’t all peaceful. William Claiborne , a man of the Virginian council, refused to accept that his settlement on Kent Island was part of Maryland after the colony’s charter was granted in 1632.

Claiborne launched pirate raids on Maryland’s trading posts, leading to charges of piracy and murder. While he eventually lost his claim, Claiborne’s defiance adds a plot twist to Maryland’s story.

10

Virginia: Witch trials in the South

Image: Henry Deng

Did you think witch trials only happened in Salem? Think again. Virginia held about two dozen trials between 1626 and 1730, including the infamous case of Grace Sherwood. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, maybe "The Witch of Pungo" does.

While we’re not going to get into the details of how they proved she "was a witch," she was convicted of witchcraft and spent several years in jail before she was released.

11

North Carolina: The Mystery of Roanoke

Image: Gene Gallin

North Carolina’s Roanoke Colony remains one of America’s greatest mysteries. In 1587, over 100 settlers vanished without a trace , leaving behind only the word "Croatoan" carved into a tree.

As you can imagine, there are plenty of theories surrounding this event: Did they join local Indigenous tribes, or succumb to the harsh environment? While we may never know, the "Lost Colony" keeps historians and treasure hunters quite captivated.

12

South Carolina’s "Blue Gold" boom

Image: Omri D. Cohen

South Carolina’s indigo trade, led by Eliza Lucas Pinckney in the 1730s, turned the colony into an economic powerhouse. This vibrant blue dye, vital for textiles, was so lucrative it earned the nickname "blue gold."

Despite the challenges, which included sabotage by rivals, the crop’s success transformed South Carolina’s economy. However, its growth came at the cost of enslaved labor, a sobering reality of the colony’s prosperity.

13

Georgia: A colony for a cause

Image: Jaanus Jagomägi

Founded in 1732 by James Oglethorpe, a prison reformer, Georgia was established as a social experiment . It was designed to provide a fresh start for England’s "worthy poor," and to that end, the colony outlawed slavery and large landholdings.

However, settlers soon pushed back, and by 1751, many of the original restrictions were lifted. Despite its challenges, Georgia’s idealistic beginnings make it a unique addition to the 13 colonies.