I don't know why, but recent posts got me to thinking about where I used to live in Ithaca, NY. Maybe it's the significant geographical loci, the low-grade onomamania, the apocalypticism. I dunno.But something made me remember that in Ithaca there is a Sodom Road! Now, I get the idea of naming things after Biblical places, but Sodom? Not the most propitious name. I mean, buggery aside, the place was destroyed, no?
Leads me to wonder, why? Wtf?
Fortunately, some kind soul has photographed the street sign and released it to the public domain. Hence the proof you may require, above....
Some explanation:
"In its earliest years during frontier days, what is now Ithaca was briefly known by the names "The Flats" and "Sodom," the name of the Biblical city of sin, due to its reputation as a town of "notorious immorality", a place of horse racing, gambling, profanity, Sabbath breaking, and readily available liquor. These names did not last long; Simeon DeWitt renamed the town Ithaca in the early 1800s, though nearby Robert H. Treman State Park still contains Lucifer Falls.
That early reputation for immorality, together with its more recent reputation as having a left-leaning population, has once again made Ithaca mildly infamous in some circles as the "City of Evil," due to a satirical campaign by members of a politically conservative online discussion board....According to religious conservatives, this idea is further buoyed by Cornell University's early nickname, "the godless university" which came about due to their lack of affiliation with any organized religion."
An evil place? Hardly. Cold as Hell, though....
P.S. There are others.
