Peculiar, MO, was named in 1868 by, of all people, the Postmaster General.
When the post office was being established, the people who lived in the area chose three possible names and sent them to the post office, but all three of them were already in use. Frustrated, they wrote to the Postmaster General and in the letter wrote “We don’t care what name you give us, so long as it is sort of peculiar.” Well, the Postmaster general wrote back “My conclusion is that in all the land it would be difficult to imagine a more distinctive, a more peculiar name than Peculiar.” so Peculiar, Missouri, it was, (the full story from the City of Peculiar.
Of note, Peculiar is the first city that I’ve found to have an official Facebook page.
