Find Loving via Paradise and Intercourse

TO get to Paradise, some Americans go to Intercourse first.

In Texas, amorous couples get engaged in Loving and then go to Looneyville via Hoop and Holler. Earth is also in Texas, and lies about 2,400 kilometres from Mars and Venus, both in Pennsylvania.

And the good people of Rising Sun, Maryland, probably have close ties to their kinfolk in Hot Coffee, Mississippi, Toast in North Carolina and Two Egg, Florida.

The US has its fair share of towns with odd place names, some with stories that rival the name for originality. In New Mexico, Hot Springs voted in 1950 to change the name of their town to Truth or Consequences, after a popular television game show.

Intercourse, in the heart of Pennsylvania’s religious and traditional Amish country, was called Cross Keys, after a popular inn, when it was founded in the 18th century. It changed its name to Intercourse in the 1800s for reasons no one is sure of.

The picturesque town has capitalised on its famous name, selling T-shirts that read “I love Intercourse”.

The town of Boring, Oregon, has taken a different tack, billing itself as “the most exciting place to live”.

Meanwhile, Christmas, Florida, experiences a business boom during the festive season, especially at its post office as people come from neighbouring towns to mail cards with a Christmas postmark.

Santa Claus, Indiana, enjoys a similar jump in business as it claims to have the only post office in the world with the name of the jolly, bearded man who delivers gifts to children around the world on Christmas day.