Not every town in Arizona has a name its townspeople ought to be ashamed of, as we explored in our list of the 10 Arizona towns with the worst names.
Now, we'll give you the list of the 10 best-named towns in Arizona:
10.) Littletown
That name was not meant to be a joke. It's 0.4 square miles.
9.) Bowie
Unfortunately, not named after David.
8.) Phoenix
C'mon.
7.) Del Muerto
According to Will Barnes' book Arizona Place Names, the guy who named it found the abandoned ruins of a home back in 1882, and found a whole bunch of dead folks -- okay, "several" dead people -- in one of the rooms. Sounds like an appropriate name.
6.) Winslow
Only cool thanks to the Eagles. Anyone who's ever been there knows that standin' on the corner is about the most exciting thing to do in that town. (Seriously.)
5.) Overgaard
It's technically Heber-Overgaard now, and Heber sounds like a name out of the hillbilly handbook, but Overgaard still sounds like it's from Lord of the Rings.
4.) Show Low
Real cowboy shit. We'll let the city's website explain:
Show Low received its name when C.E. Cooley and Marion Clark decided there was not enough room for both of them in their settlement. The two men agreed to let a game of cards decide who was to move. According to the story, Clark said, "If you can show low, you win." Cooley turned up the deuce of clubs and replied, "Show low it is."
3.) Skull Valley
Long story short, this place definitely deserves the name. According to the Arizona Place Names book, the first white guy to find this place found "found piles of bleached Indian skulls." Then, two years later, 35 more people were killed there. A photograph from the Sharlot Hall Museum shows what appears to be a whole lot of skulls.
2.) Carefree
The Honey Badger of towns.
1.) Tombstone
Just the perfect reminder that people around here just murdered each other all the time.
Send feedback and tips to the author.
Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
