Name That Flyover City! — May 5, 2022
Here’s a review of this week’s questions:
- What southern city is the location of the first Piggly Wiggly grocery store?
- What southern city was named after the wife of King George III?
- “The Center of the Universe” is located in what American city?
And here are the answers:
- Memphis, TN. Piggly Wiggly grocery stores were truly innovators in their field. After their humble beginnings in Memphis in 1916, they became the first “self-service grocery store,” as well as the first to use check-out lanes to ring up orders. Clarence Saunders gave the company its name, and its meaning is still shrouded in mystery. Located throughout the American south, the grocery chain still operates over 600 stores.
- Charlotte, NC. Nicknamed the Queen City, Charlotte, and its resident county Mecklenburg, are named in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of British King George III during the time of the city’s founding. King George III still ruled the Colonies when European settlers chartered the town back in 1768. They named the new hamlet after Queen Charlotte and gave the surrounding county the name Mecklenburg in honor of her majesty’s birthplace in Germany. Charlotte gave birth to 15 children, including King George IV, who assumed the crown after his father was declared insane in 1811. The fictionalized version of Queen Charlotte is portrayed by Golda Rosheuvel on the popular Netflix series “Bridgerton.”
- Tulsa, OK. Described as “an acoustic anomaly with a mysterious cause,” the Center of the Universe in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma is really just a small circle of bricks surrounded by a larger circle of bricks. Any noise made inside the brick circle is loudly echoed, but only those inside the circle can hear it. There is no official explanation for how the anomaly formed, but the most likely cause is the planters around it that reflect the sound waves, creating the peculiar effect. The site is a popular destination for Tulsa visitors from around the globe.