Random Weird Small Towns In Texas (19 items)

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  (#15) Salty Makes You Think You Need A Drink To Wash It Down

  Salty is a tiny incorporated community established in 1860 and named for the nearby Salt Creek (no indication why this creek was named "Salt Creek," though!) Although it reportedly has its own cemetery, church, and town hall, it has a very small political presence and plays a minute role in greater Wichita County. Salty, Texas: where you need a drink to wash it all down.
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  (#4) Ding Dong

  • Texas, USA

  Ding Dong isn't the most attractive name for a town, but it shows an undeniable sense of humor. Ding Dong was founded by Bert and Zulis Bell in the 1930s. The Bells ran a store, and recruited a painter to paint a sign for them.

  He painted two bells, one for each Bell, and as a joke, he labeled them "ding" and "dong." The name stuck.
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  (#11) Earth

  • Texas, USA

  It's gutsy to name your small town after something as grand as the Earth. It's unclear how the rural city in west Texas got its name, but there are some working theories that make sense.

  The city was established in 1924 by William E. Halsell, and was originally named Fairlawn or Fairleen. However, when postmaster C.H. Reeves attempted to register the post office with Washington, DC, he was apparently moved by a passing sandstorm and therefore chose the name Earth.

  That's one theory. Another, also involving Reeves, says that after he described the sandstorm to DC, they replied, "The earth seems to move in your country. You will call the post office Earth."
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  (#1) DISH

  • Texas, USA

  In 2005, the rural community of Clark in northeastern Texas made a deal with a national TV provider that would give the whole town free satellite television. The condition? The residents of the town would have to agree to rename their hometown after their corporate sponsor. DISH, TX, was born.

  The change obviously garnered mixed responses for the community. In 2013, the New York Times reported on the name change, and got a funny quote from resident Buddy Kinney: "I wished Jack Daniel’s would have looked us up."
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  (#9) Jot 'Em Down Was Named After A 1930s-Era Radio Show

  Jot 'Em Down is an unincorporated small town in Delta County, outside Dallas. Allegedly, the name of the town came from a fictional 1930s-era Arkansas radio store on the "Lum and Abner" show. The tiny town went through a series of names in its quest to find itself, including Mohegan, Muddig Prairie, and Bagley. When a couple of brothers moved to the area and wanted to open a store, they polled the community for a store name, which led to the whole town renaming itself.

  Although Jot 'Em Down is reportedly a popular rest stop with passersby, the town itself has only reported a population of 10 since 2000.
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  (#12) Kermit

  • Texas, USA

  Despite your most immediate association, the city of Kermit, TX, in Winkler County originally had nothing to do with the popular Muppet. Kermit was named after the son of President Theodore Roosevelt, who visited a nearby ranch to hunt for antelope in the early 1900s. But after the rise of a certain frog, the town named a "Kermit the Frog Boulevard" and painted a water tower with his face.

  Today, the town has a population of around 5,700. But it wasn't always a bustling center. In the late 1910s, Winkler County experienced a serious drought that forced residents out. The situation was so severe that by 1924, only one student was attending school in the county. However, just before the Great Depression, oil was discovered. People flocked back to the city.

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