5 Of The Strangest Named Places You've Never Heard Of In Massachusetts

The state of Massachusetts has some very unique cities and towns.

Boston and Worcester are the two most well-known cities outside of state lines. Both have a rich history and culture that are the embodiment of their unique identities, which has made them well known to non-residents.

However, there are many lesser-known areas in Massachusetts that you're likely less familiar with, let alone may not even believe exist. Believe it or not, there are many places in the state with some of the strangest names you've ever heard.

Here are five of the strangest named places in the state of Massachusetts.

Bloody Brook, Massachusetts

Bloody Brook, originally named Muddy Brook, is best known for the Battle of Bloody Brook, in which the at least 40 English colonial militia members from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and 17 civilians were ambushed and killed by two aligned Native Americans tribes, the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc.

Braintree/New Braintree, Massachusetts

Braintree is a suburban city that is part of the Greater Boston area in Norfolk County. The town is named after Braintree, Essex in England and was first chartered in 1640.

The much smaller New Braintree is a town in Worcester County that was first settled in 1709 and officially incorporated under its current name in 1751.

Florida, Massachusetts

You can stay within state lines and take a trip to Florida, a Massachusetts town in Berkshire County. While it may share its name, the town predates the colonization of America's southernmost state by 40 years and is believed to have been named because the eventual land claim of Spanish Florida was a topic of conversation at the time.

Nomans Land, Massachusetts

Nomans Land, also referred to as "No Man's Land," is a fittingly named uninhabited 612-acre island located in Dukes County that is closed to the public. The island was used by the United States Navy as a practice bombing range from 1943 to 1996 before it was transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to be used for unstaffed wildlife refuge.

Sandwich, Massachusetts

It's the oldest town on Cape Cod and the tastiest named. Sandwich, Massachusetts isn't, however, named after the entree, rather Sandwich, Kent, England, as it was settled more than 100 years before the American Revolutionary War.

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