The Backyard Traveler has an article on Nevada’s Strange Place Names. If you’ve ever wondered about the origins of names like Weed Heights, Slim Creek, Adverse, Adaven, Jiggs, or Tobar, this is the article for you.
I’ll even give you a freebie. Back in most of these old towns, one of the first buildings to be put up was a saloon. In one case, the proprietors of the new thirst parlor wanted to make it easy for patrons to find them. So they nailed a sign to the railroad depot that read “To Bar”, with an arrow pointing the way. The next train that arrived, everyone saw the sign and thought that was the name of the town. And so it was.
Update: Eric sends in a link to a history article on Tobar.
