Passing by the Rip Van Winkle Bridge the other day, it made me wonder...what other roads, bridges, etc. are named for fictional characters?
(Publicly-controlled facilities only–for obvious reasons, let's exclude places like the Disney parks.)
One obvious sub-category will be streets and developments with names taken from legendary figures like Robin Hood, King Arthur and so on, who may or may not be real persons, but who are clearly so fictionalized as to be essentially fictional.
Hodag Park (https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6519376,-89.4090578,16.17z?hl=en) in Rhinelander, WI is named for a mythical beast that is also the local high school mascot.
There's also this neighborhood in San Antonio (https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5294963,-98.6652244,17z) which has both a Beowulf St and Brigadoon St.
Paul Bunyan Street, Ortonville, MN
Multiple Tom Sawyer Rds
Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan, and numerous other locations with that name.
Although Hiawatha was a real person, similar to King Arthur and Robin Hood mentioned above, little is known of the real person. Mostly he appears only in legend.
Rosie the Riveter Memorial Interchange, near Morgantown, West Virginia:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/33847501858_ec205a31a1_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/TyZi5f)
...Though the artwork was inspired by a real individual.
Off the top of my head, two street-naming themes here in Fairfax County immediately come to mind.
There's a neighborhood near where I grew up named Camelot that has King Arthur Road, Guinevere Drive, Launcelot Way, Merlin Way, Tristan Court, Gawaine Court, and maybe one or two others.
Another neighborhood off Rolling Road has Prince Caspian Lane, Prince Caspian Court, Rilian Court, and Digory Court; if those all don't tell you where the theme is, Narnia Court will.
Hiawatha/Minnehaha Aves in Minneapolis
Paul Bunyan Expressway in central and northern Minnesota
Lake Wobegon Trail in central Minnesota
Betty Crocker Drive in Golden Valley by the General Mills HQ
Quote from: formulanone on October 25, 2020, 05:02:10 PM
Rosie the Riveter Memorial Interchange, near Morgantown, West Virginia:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/33847501858_ec205a31a1_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/TyZi5f)
...Though the artwork was inspired by a real individual.
Not to pick nits, but the sign says "Rosie the Riveter
s Memorial
Bridge.
Where is that? The new interchange built just south of the US 19/WV 7 interchange? I'm not familiar with any roundabouts near the interstate at Morgantown, and I haven't been north of I-68 in several years.
Local clown J.P. Patches has two things named for him in the Seattle area:
J.P. Patches Place in Fremont, next to his statue (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Patches#Late_for_the_Interurban_statue) that riffs on the nearby Waiting for the Interurban statue.
And J.P. Patches Playground at Hickman Park in Edmonds (https://www.heraldnet.com/uncategorized/edmonds-names-new-park-after-doctor-j-p-patches/), where the actor behind the clown lived.
Quote from: formulanone on October 25, 2020, 05:02:10 PM
Rosie the Riveter Memorial Interchange, near Morgantown, West Virginia:
...Though the artwork was inspired by a real individual.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 25, 2020, 07:31:55 PM
Not to pick nits, but the sign says "Rosie the Riveters Memorial Bridge.
Where is that? The new interchange built just south of the US 19/WV 7 interchange? I'm not familiar with any roundabouts near the interstate at Morgantown, and I haven't been north of I-68 in several years.
I think that's the new exit at University Towne Center (Exit 153 CR-46/7). It was supposed to be completed in March 2016, but I never heard when it actually opened. The shopping center and retail complex is behind you in the posted photo (east then north), whereas the road beyond the traffic circle has been connected to a new section of Martin Hollow Road (not yet connected to Martin Hollow, which comes off Chaplin Hill Road).
The earliest truck stop at the "Exit Formerly Known as Winfield" on I-64 (Exit 39 WV-34 now Teays Valley) was for many years known as the Paul Bunyan Travel Center. It's now a TA truck stop.
What about counties or other government units named for fictional characters?
I suspect there are some in the U.S., even if you don't include the county in Hawaii named for the demigod Maui. The one that I'm most sure of is in Canada, Maria-Chapdelaine regional county municipality (in French, MRC) in northern Quebec. That MRC was named for the heroine of a romance novel set in that part of the province.
There actually is a Robinhood (sic) Road in Havre de Grace, Maryland as well as an Old Robinhood Road in Aberdeen, which is split in half by I-95.
There is a mobile home neighborhood between Plano and Wylie, TX with streets named from characters from Dallas. The spot where Southfork Ranch actually is, is only a few short miles away.
A neighborhood in north Dallas has various Disney characters (Snow White, Pinocchio, etc.) for street names.
Tahquitz Way (also called McCallum Way or both hyphenated) in Palm Springs, named for the mythical creature or monster of the Cahuilla people dwelling in the San Jacinto mountains.
I just thought about this thread, and decided to include something in the town of Metropolis, a real locale in downstate IL: Superman Square and the statue of the man himself. Here he is:
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.1523355,-88.7325928,3a,75y,240.17h,79.46t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0JBMhLlQSMo-ydYDY85QJQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0JBMhLlQSMo-ydYDY85QJQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D118.45067%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
Quote from: Henry on October 26, 2020, 11:37:13 AM
I just thought about this thread, and decided to include something in the town of Metropolis, a real locale in downstate IL: Superman Square and the statue of the man himself. Here he is:
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.1523355,-88.7325928,3a,75y,240.17h,79.46t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0JBMhLlQSMo-ydYDY85QJQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0JBMhLlQSMo-ydYDY85QJQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D118.45067%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
Been there many times. When I drove a delivery route in the area, the jail there (pan slightly to the right) was one of our customers.
Sorry, doesn't count. Superman must be real, because Google had to blur his face.
:hmmm:
Quote from: GaryV on October 26, 2020, 12:04:03 PM
Sorry, doesn't count. Superman must be real, because Google had to blur his face.
:hmmm:
The statue is indeed real. But that's not the title of the thread.
There was a Festus Mobile Home in Johnson, Arkansas. Ken Curtis showed up at the grand opening.
Peter Pan buses.
If companies don't count, I-95 at RI 126 seems to have a Peter Pan Way that's a bus terminal.
The Uncle Remus Golf Course in Eatonton, GA. https://www.putnamcountyga.us/golf
:popcorn: :wave:
Quote from: formulanone on October 25, 2020, 05:02:10 PM
Rosie the Riveter Memorial Interchange, near Morgantown, West Virginia:
...Though the artwork was inspired by a real individual.
Regardless of the inspiration of the artwork, I'd argue that we're still not talking about a fictional character.
Today, the J. Howard Miller "We Can Do It! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Do_It!)" heroine is firmly entrenched in the popular consciousness and has been adapted, reused, and parodied endlessly. Most modern audiences take the woman on that poster to be (borrowing a line from
Miracle on 34th Street's Fred Gailey)
the one and only Rosie the Riveter. A depiction of a fictional character like Santa Claus. But that's not really true–on a number of levels.
During World War II, "Rosie the Riveter" was a popular nickname for any woman working on America's industrial lines (especially in shipyards and munitions plants) that had generally been staffed by men prior to the official U.S. entry into the war. The origin of the nickname "Rosie" is widely believed to have come from Rosalind P. Walter, a worker on a fighter plane assembly line in New York.
And that leads us to H.B.'s observation:
Quote from: hbelkins on October 25, 2020, 07:31:55 PM
Not to pick nits, but the sign says "Rosie the Riveters...
(plural) ...which leads me to conclude that the bridge is not named for Rosalind P Walter, nor for any of women who served as inspiration for the posters and other illustrations, nor for a generic, fictionalized "Rosie" . Instead, I take it has having been named for all of the real Rosies who worked tirelessly in American factories during the war.
Quote from: briantroutman on October 26, 2020, 01:25:50 PM
(plural) ...which leads me to conclude that the bridge is not named for Rosalind P Walter, nor for any of women who served as inspiration for the posters and other illustrations, nor for a generic, fictionalized "Rosie" . Instead, I take it has having been named for all of the real Rosies who worked tirelessly in American factories during the war.
A cursory search of news articles shows your conclusion to be true. For example:
Quote from: MetroNews (The Voice of West Virginia): 'Work of the Rosies Remembered on Labor Day', 04-SEP-2016
With the opening of a new Interstate 79 interchange in Monongalia County Thursday the structure spanning over the highway connecting University Town Center to the developing West Ridge Business Park was named the "Rosie the Riveters Memorial Bridge" .
"We're advocating that Congress do Rosie the Riveter parks. We're advocating as many bridges as possible. It's not expensive. But, the women are dying. The women are almost always in their nineties," remarked Anne Montague, founder and Executive Director of Thanks! Plain and Simple, Inc.
The women worked "on the home front" during World War II. They worked in factories and elsewhere in the production of planes, ships and tires to help in the war effort as men were engaged in fighting.
"I think the most important thing about the Rosies is they worked together. They pulled together. They pulled together to the point that they didn't have an individual identity. And, most of the time when we talk about history or historic figures, we are talking about individuals," Montague assessed.
The name of the bridge refers to real people.
Quote from: kphoger on October 26, 2020, 12:08:51 PM
Quote from: GaryV on October 26, 2020, 12:04:03 PM
Sorry, doesn't count. Superman must be real, because Google had to blur his face.
:hmmm:
The statue is indeed real. But that's not the title of the thread.
It is a joke that since Google's face blurring algorithm is intended to protect the privacy of real individuals and that the statue having its face blurred that implies that Superman is in fact a real person. The fact that it was a joke was made all the more clearer via the use of an animated "smiley" graphic, a common tactic used in discussion forums where verbal tone is not ascertained. :nod:
Quote from: cbeach40 on October 26, 2020, 03:28:37 PM
Quote from: kphoger on October 26, 2020, 12:08:51 PM
Quote from: GaryV on October 26, 2020, 12:04:03 PM
Sorry, doesn't count. Superman must be real, because Google had to blur his face.
:hmmm:
The statue is indeed real. But that's not the title of the thread.
It is a joke that since Google's face blurring algorithm is intended to protect the privacy of real individuals and that the statue having its face blurred that implies that Superman is in fact a real person. The fact that it was a joke was made all the more clearer via the use of an animated "smiley" graphic, a common tactic used in discussion forums where verbal tone is not ascertained. :nod:
Yes, I know.
Also, the license plate on the car nearby is a real person's face too.
:whip:
Quote from: skluth on October 25, 2020, 02:13:30 PM
There's also this neighborhood in San Antonio (https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5294963,-98.6652244,17z) which has both a Beowulf St and Brigadoon St.
Brigadoon is a fictional place, rather than a character, but that could also be an interesting sub-category. Probably more common than characters, if I had to wager. (Lake Wobegon is also mentioned above.)
Quote from: Bruce on October 25, 2020, 08:04:58 PM
Local clown J.P. Patches has two things named for him in the Seattle area:
Hmm, another interesting case. Obviously that's not the performer's real name, and a clown portrayal is of course a characterization, albeit one that's associated with a specific real individual (though not necessarily, in all cases). That might be considered more of a "persona" than a "character", especially for those performers who use their real names and embody exaggerated versions of their ostensibly-real selves in their work (shock jocks and conspiracy theorists, that sort of thing).
From my old neck of the woods: The Mothman Museum. Wait a second, that statue overlooks Main Street along the Ohio River in Point Pleasant but the real version was a block further east overlooking WV-2/WV-62:
https://wchstv.com/news/local/man-photographs-creature-that-resembles-legendary-mothman-of-point-pleasant (https://wchstv.com/news/local/man-photographs-creature-that-resembles-legendary-mothman-of-point-pleasant)
I assume this cluster (https://goo.gl/maps/WhDLWUUYCE4DRwG9A) of a Snoopy Lane, Linus Court, and Peppermint Lane near Salem, Oregon is not merely an incredible coincidence.
Without doing any farther digging, isn't the State of California named after a fictional work or a character in a fictional work?
Mike
Werewolf Lane in Scott County, IN
https://www.google.com/maps/place/E+Werewolf+Ln,+Vienna+Township,+IN+47177/@38.60898,-85.734757,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x886bd7ae96675233:0x2a7f04a34c377d89!8m2!3d38.60898!4d-85.7325683
Quote from: mgk920 on October 27, 2020, 04:04:25 PM
Without doing any farther digging, isn't the State of California named after a fictional work or a character in a fictional work?
Named after a fictional land, not a fictional character. Though, in the most popular theory, that work of fiction also included a character whose name resembled that of the land.
Quote from: empirestate on October 25, 2020, 01:05:43 PM
Passing by the Rip Van Winkle Bridge the other day, it made me wonder...what other roads, bridges, etc. are named for fictional characters?
(Publicly-controlled facilities only–for obvious reasons, let's exclude places like the Disney parks.)
One obvious sub-category will be streets and developments with names taken from legendary figures like Robin Hood, King Arthur and so on, who may or may not be real persons, but who are clearly so fictionalized as to be essentially fictional.
I will stay away from Las Vegas, Orlando, and Anaheim. Those who wish to grab low-hanging fruit may wish to explore a street index of those cities.
Scotts Valley, CA has "Santa's Village Rd"
Rachel, NV has "The Extraterrestrial Highway"
The three states of California (two in Mexico, one in US) are all named after a mythical character.
Santa Claus, Ind.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 28, 2020, 11:18:03 PM
Santa Claus, Ind.
I hope there's no little kids reading this over their dad's shoulder.
Dogpatch, Arkansas (renamed Marble Falls after the amusement park failed)
Quote from: GaryV on October 29, 2020, 09:17:25 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 28, 2020, 11:18:03 PM
Santa Claus, Ind.
I hope there's no little kids reading this over their dad's shoulder.
There's a Santa Claus, Georgia as well.
While the modern-day Santa Claus is a fictional/legendary/mythical figure, such is based on the quite historical Saint Nicholas. Kind of iffy.
Omaha has John Galt Boulevard (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.2092261,-96.0833804,16z).