Not that I look forward to severe weather (which I know is a really strange way to start an article), but whenever there is a severe storm threat in the area and the local news interrupts "our regularly scheduled program" to track it and let us know when and if we'll need to head to our basement or safe space in the house, I always find myself learning about places in our area I never knew existed. You know what I'm talking about, right? It's when Wayne Hart (WEHT), Jeff Lyons (WFIE), or Cameron Hopman (WEVV) trace a line along the front edge of the storm line and drag it out to show when the storm is expected to hit a particular area. For example, after drawing out the tracking box, they'll warn residents in Solitude, Greenbriar, Eby, or Buckskin that the storm is 15 to 20 minutes away. Every time it happens, it's like we get a little geography lesson about the area some of us have called home our entire lives.

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40 Real Indiana Towns with Quirky, Weird, and Funny Names

Outside the major cities, the Hoosier state is full of tiny little towns you've probably passed through on your way to one of those cities. Most of them are likely 100 to 150 years old, or older, and have been around far longer than the large metropolitan areas such as Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Evansville. Typically, they were started by early settlers who found their way to the state and decided to make it home. Eventually, others would join them, and a community was formed. Over time, as the surrounding areas grew, most of them were folded into those areas and governed by the nearest city or county's governing body officially making them "unincorporated," meaning they did not have their own formally organized municipal government.

A scroll through Wikipedia's long list of unincorporated communities in Indiana shows several of them have names that by today's standards would be considered weird, quirky, or just downright right funny. These are my 40 favorities.

[Source: Wikipedia]

KEEP READING: 20 Unusual Kentucky Town Names

KEEP READING: How Many in America: From Guns to Ghost Towns

Can you take a guess as to how many public schools are in the U.S.? Do you have any clue as to how many billionaires might be residing there? Read on to find out—and learn a thing or two about each of these selection’s cultural significance and legacy along the way.

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