West End, New Jersey
West End, New Jersey has a minor claim to fame as the birthplace of Dorothy Parker. It used to be its own village, but now I think it's just a suburb of Long Branch. But what makes it unusual is its name. It's surrounded on three sides by Long Branch, and on the other side it faces the Atlantic Ocean. So what exactly is it on the west end of?
Comments
West end of the Atlantic Ocean, obviously.
Posted by Cecil Rose on 02/28/13 at 12:23 PM
It has been my observation that most place names in America are taken from location in relation to something, native place names, and what ever popped into the heads of the first people to settle the area (California, Pennsylvania has amused me for years).
As for West End, NJ, I'm sure it was the west end of something at one time. Sort of like the West End of London which is no longer the actual west end of the city. The name remains, but the meaning has been lost.
As for West End, NJ, I'm sure it was the west end of something at one time. Sort of like the West End of London which is no longer the actual west end of the city. The name remains, but the meaning has been lost.
Posted by KDP on 02/28/13 at 12:32 PM
It is about 85 miles north of 'North End' (Ocean City NJ). ?)
Posted by tadchem on 02/28/13 at 01:42 PM
Or the guy who thought up the name was a perverse sort and figured 'Let them figure that out!'
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 02/28/13 at 08:13 PM
Well, I grew up in West Saint Paul, Minnesota, which is, naturally, precisely due south of Saint Paul. It borders Saint Paul's "West Side" neighborhood, from whence the suburb gets its name, and this refers not to being west of Saint Paul but being on the west bank of the Mississippi. (Most of St Paul is on the east bank. Which, thanks to a large bend in the river, is flowing mostly west and a little bit south at this point, so the east bank is north of the west bank.) The only city which borders St Paul to the west is Minneapolis.
The neighboring suburb of South Saint Paul is in fact south of Saint Paul, and, more importantly, is also downriver of it, approximately where the river bends to flow south again, so to a boatman, South Saint Paul is south of Saint Paul, and the West Side is not.
Sometimes the directions don't mean what it seems they mean.
(Twin Cities bonus: there is also a North Saint Paul. It's north-east of Saint Paul, and unlike the others, doesn't actually border it.)
The neighboring suburb of South Saint Paul is in fact south of Saint Paul, and, more importantly, is also downriver of it, approximately where the river bends to flow south again, so to a boatman, South Saint Paul is south of Saint Paul, and the West Side is not.
Sometimes the directions don't mean what it seems they mean.
(Twin Cities bonus: there is also a North Saint Paul. It's north-east of Saint Paul, and unlike the others, doesn't actually border it.)
Posted by Calli Arcale on 03/06/13 at 01:07 PM
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Category: Geography and Maps | Weird Names