We've got lots of interesting city names here in Iowa, but which one is the #1 weirdest?

Balltown, Beaverdale, Carl, Cool, Fertile, Hard Scratch, Little Turkey, Manly... those are just a few cities in our state that are unusually named. The website Estately took a look at maps of each U.S. state and picked out the most oddly-named cities in each one, with one being chosen as the oddest of them all. The winner for Iowa is a name that most of us here in Eastern Iowa are familiar with, and that would be the city of What Cheer!

Personally, I like to add a question mark to the end of What Cheer. It makes it ever more fun. WHAT CHEER? We don't have any cheer here!

True story - the city of What Cheer was originally called Petersberg after its founder Peter Britton in 1865. After the name was rejected by the Post Office, a major of the American Civil War by the name of Joseph Andrews suggested the new name, and the town was officially renamed in 1879. According to Wikipedia:

"Sources differ as to why the name What Cheer was chosen. The phrase what cheer with you is an ancient English greeting dating back at least to the 15th century. One theory of the name is that a Scottish miner exclaimed What cheer! on discovering a coal seam near town."

There are a few other theories as to how What Cheer got its name, and you can read those HERE.

And now you know!

To see the weirdest city names from the rest of the 50 states, click HERE.

[Via Estately]

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