Thursday, January 29, 2009
274. A city called Chicken
Turkey may be the name of a country, but in Alaska there is a city called Chicken. You can drive there in the summer or fly there year-round. according to the 2000 census, there are 17 people who live there, although in the summer a lot more go there to mine for gold. they have no electricity, plumbing, telephone, or internet service. They get mail delivered twice a week.
Coordinates are 64° 4′ 14.66″ N, 141° 52′ 29.62″ W
Here is their website, maintained outside of Chicken since they have no internet service. http://www.chickenalaska.com/chicken/index.html The website includes Chicken souvenirs, information on the village, driving directions, etc.
Why is it named Chicken? In 1902 the post office was established, so the gold miners living there had to come up with a name. The village of Eagle had been named for the eagles in the area, so the people in chicken decided to name their village for the birds in the area. However, they could not agree on how to spell "ptarmigan", so instead of naming after the birds in the area, they named it Chicken instead.
No, they do NOT have a college called Cluck U.
Coordinates are 64° 4′ 14.66″ N, 141° 52′ 29.62″ W
Here is their website, maintained outside of Chicken since they have no internet service. http://www.chickenalaska.com/chicken/index.html The website includes Chicken souvenirs, information on the village, driving directions, etc.
Why is it named Chicken? In 1902 the post office was established, so the gold miners living there had to come up with a name. The village of Eagle had been named for the eagles in the area, so the people in chicken decided to name their village for the birds in the area. However, they could not agree on how to spell "ptarmigan", so instead of naming after the birds in the area, they named it Chicken instead.
No, they do NOT have a college called Cluck U.
# posted by The Northernmost Jew : 4:42 PM
