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Road Trip For America's Future with Tim Murphy

The View From My Windshield: Swamp Monsters

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| Thu Aug. 12, 2010 2:41 PM PDT

The Last Thing You'll Ever See: Alligator, Mississippi--You'll never guess how the town of Alligator got its name. No, seriously. Giant murals notwithstanding, the town's actually named for a nearby lake, which, in turn, is kind of shaped like an alligator. But that's not what's interesThe Last Thing You'll Ever See: Alligator, Mississippi—The little Delta town of Alligator gets its name, as you might expect, from the monstrous 28-foot reptile seen above, which halved the village's population over a terrifying one-week period in 1907. No, actually, it's a bit less interesting than that. Giant mural notwithstanding, the town's actually named for a nearby lake, which, in turn, is kind of shaped like an alligator. Voila. In 2008, Alligator elected its first-ever black mayor by 10 votes, 37–27, on a platform of change and a new swimming pool (alligators not included). The full story, via the Telegraph, is actually pretty fascinating.

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