I'm here in wampum, Pennsylvania, the oldest borough in Lawrence County, settled in 1796 as Irish Ripple.

The name was changed in the early 1800s to better reflect the region's history.

Wampum is a string of beads that was a popular trading item between Native Americans and settlers, and wampum is also just the first of many weird Pennsylvania place names we'll be covering.

In today's episode of nose explores and explains.

Not too far away is the borough of S.N.P.J.

or Slovenska Narodna, Podporna Jednota or, in English, the Slovene national benefit Society, a fraternal order which owned over 500 acres of land in North Beaver Township, where they held their festivals throughout the year.

Now, the township didn't allow alcohol to be sold on Sundays, so the society applied for borough status so that they could obtain their own liquor license.

It was for a time the least populated borough in the state until Centralia was evacuated following the famous mine fires.

Up north, we find ourselves in the borough of Tidioute.

The Sportsman's Paradise and summer hotspot has four possible name origins, all from Iroquoian or related languages.

Seeing far straight water cluster of islands or protrusion of land.

This last explanation seems the most appropriate for those who pronounce the name as if they are describing the flag of Virginia.

Just up the hill is Triumph Township, named for the triumph of wildcatters who had finally struck oil after a long prospecting expedition during Pennsylvania's 19th century oil rush.

Distant was founded in 1848 as Texas, Pennsylvania.

The name was changed in 1854 to Oakland, and again in 1918 to Distant for reasons unknown.

Perhaps it is because it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, distant from everything except our next place with Widnoon, a post office operated in Widnoon from 1880 to 2005.

Before that, the village was called Duncanville, but a local pastor decided on a new name, naming it after the Biblical Widnoon Road leading to Timbuctoo.

Panic in Jefferson County was originally called Shamokin, but since another place with that name already existed in the state, the name was changed to Panic in order to get a post office.

The name was chosen because the event occurred during the panic of 1873, which was the worst economic depression before the 1930s.

A colonial era skirmish is the origin of Burnt Cabins in Fulton County.

Squatters had settled west of the Proclamation Line of 1763, much to the chagrin of local natives, as well as to the colonial government, who wanted to keep peace with the tribes.

The government burned the settlers cabins as punishment for defying the settlement order, and the name has always stuck.

Red Lion in York County was named after an inn from the colonial era, which had a red lion painted on its side.

The building.

The house.

The inn has been a private residence since 1863, but the town of Red lion has continued to grow and prosper.

Pillow, Pennsylvania would be a good place to rest your head if there were any hotels in town.

It was named for General Pillow, who fought in the Mexican-American War, and apparently also for the undulating terrain of the area.

Hot Bottom sounds like a dance from the 1940s, but it is actually named for Hot Bottom Creek named itself for the abundance of wild, hot vines growing in the meadows that it passes through.

The town of Delaware Water Gap is much like the town of railroad in our last episode, meaning that it is the least original name possible for a town located right in the Delaware Water Gap.

But originality hardly matters when you were surrounded by views like these.

That's all I have for you in today's episode of Weird Pennsylvania place names.