It's gonna be as hot as Seven Devils this week. Sure would love some Relief.

We are blessed here in North Carolina to have ample good qualities like good food, a variety of landscapes, cultures, etc. We also have a fair number of quirky town names, as we have discussed in the past. As we are heading into one of the hottest weeks of the year (so far), it struck me that some of these names are relevant. To wit:

For instance, it is going to be as hot as Seven Devils this week as the temperature gets over Old Hundred. You could probably Toast bread on a Bee Log. The last thing I need to drink is a Toddy or visit Thermal Creek. Sure would love to take a dip in some Cool Springs right about now -- or, better yet, in Coldass Creek! That would give me some Welcome Relief.

As always, be sure to check out the N.C. Gazetteer for more interesting N.C. place names.

Gazetteer fun: P-R

My apologies for not doing this in a while. Quite honestly, it just slipped my mind.

The highly entertaining and educational North Carolina Gazetteer was recently updated for the first time since it was first published in 1968.

We figured we would highlight some of our favorites from the book every now and then. This version will look at random listings that begin with letters, P, Q and R. (Click here to see some older versions.) There are some 2,ooo-plus listings in the Gazetteer, so feel free to search for your own faves.

Pinch Gut Branch*, rises in e[astern] Surry County and flows s[outh]e[ast] into Stokes County, where it enters Big Creek. Said to have been named by Saura Indians in the vicinity who almost starved because of the scarcity of game.

Quail Roost, community in n[orthern] Durham County. Named for a former hunting club there acquired in 1925 by George Watts Hill of Durham, who turned it into a dairy farm. In 1963 the farm was given to the state of North Carolina by Hill. The large house is used as a conference center by the University of North Carolina; North Carolina State University makes use of the surrounding land, designated as Hill Forest.

Relief, community in w[estern] Mitchell County on Toe River. Alt. 2,092. Named for the patent medicine Hart's Relief, a popular product with a high alcoholic content sold at John Peterson's store there after about 1870.

*There are at least seven Pinch Gut/Pinchgut locations in the state, including Pinch Gut Creek in Anson County, Pinchgut Branch in Duplin County and Pinchgut Creek in Caldwell County, which has the distinction of being named by the same person who named another nearby creek "Coldass."