{"id":17783,"date":"2017-07-09T05:35:28","date_gmt":"2017-07-09T10:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=17783"},"modified":"2021-12-01T07:38:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:38:40","slug":"simply-boring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/simply-boring\/","title":{"rendered":"Simply Boring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Speaking of boring places<\/a>, the phenomenon didn’t confine itself exclusively to Oregon. Sure, the largest Boring town existed just outside of Portland. However, because Boring was also a surname, it spread to other locations as one might expect. Residents tended to have the same sense of humor about living in Boring places everywhere. The same bad puns, the same entertainingly-named public institutions and businesses, the same frequently-photographed road signs formed a common bond. The repetition became, well, boring. Fortunately the stories found just below the surface offered additional entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Boring, Maryland<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"This<\/a>
Boring United Methodist Church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What Maryland’s Boring lacked in population it gained in recognition through the U.S. Postal Service (map<\/a>). Boring, Maryland 21020 didn’t have the same cachet as Beverly Hills 90210<\/a>, although it still existed as a physical place. Other than that, the hamlet consisted primarily of a few homes along the intersection of Old Hanover and Pleasant Grove Roads. The Boring Post Office along with a Boring Fire Hall and a Boring Methodist Church also offered popular photo opportunities for outsiders passing through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Washington Post<\/a> featured a Boring article back in 1984.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The origin of its name is somewhat less boring than the name itself. The town originally was called Fairview, but according to folks hereabouts, when the post office was established in 1880, postal authorities ordered the town renamed, apparently to avoid confusion with all the other Fairviews in the United States. ‘So it was named by the townspeople after the first postmaster here, David J. Boring, in 1880,’ explained Cullison, himself a postmaster of Boring from 1950 to 1976.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It served as yet another example of a town changing its name because of postal delivery, a common condition in the late 19th Century. We’ve seen that happen many times on Twelve Mile Circle although the results were not usually so Boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Boring, Tennessee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n