Those living in the world's most well-known cities might be lucky enough to be in the vicinity of iconic landmarks, such as the Empire State Building, Big Ben, or the Golden Gate Bridge.
Then too, some people might live in a town that might not have any places that are popular photo ops, but have a distinguished legacy all their own, such as Salem, Massachusetts or Bentonville, Arkansas.
Of course, even if they don't make the travel guides or the history books, just about every city or town in the world has its own claim to fame.
Some that residents proudly promote, others that people hope never get any major attention outside of town lines.
Redditor Worried-Stable-9963 was eager to hear the biggest claim to fame of people's hometowns, leading them to ask:
"What's the most iconic thing where you live?"
Think Carefully Before Taking A Group Shop...
"Blucifer."
"The giant blue horse sculpture that killed the sculptor."
"It has shining red eyes and is NOT helping the DIA conspiracy rumors."- BeastmodeBallerina
"The [Place] Where It Happen[ed]"...
"Alexander Hamilton was shot in the famous duel in 1804, right down the street from where I live." - Reddit
Bibliophiles Rejoice!
"'Anne of Green Gables'."
"And potatoes."
"But the cruise ships of Asian tourists ain’t here for the spuds."- Blue_Moon_Rabbit
martin sheen marilla cuthbert GIF by PBSGiphyDoesn't Have Quite The Same Ring To It!
"A Golden Gate bridge that is orange."- CalGoldenBear55
Talk About Nickel And Dime...
"We have two actually."
"A Giant Nickel and the World's tallest Smoke Stack that I refer to as the world's tallest cigarette or 'dart'."- GrungusDnD
"My Kind Of Town..."
"The Sears Tower and Lake Shore Drive."- Acceptable-Yak7968
Beer Pong Chicago GIF by BPONGofficialGiphyFor Writer's Needing Inspiration
"Cannery row."- Zealousideal-Bug7138
"Driving there from San Jose is a nice drive through Steinbeck country."- kathatter75
The True Spirit Of St. Louis
"The Gateway Arch."- NowForMy2ndAct
"That’s the only thing here besides the Cardinals."- Andrew_The_Soviet
The Air Is Full Of Spices...
"Old Bay seasoning."- AlmostSane67
"Natty Boh too?"- i_love_ankh_morpork·
old bay japan GIFGiphyAll Roads Lead To Oregon...
"Mt. Hood, probably."
"Any part of the city with a bit of elevation you can look over on a nice day and see a snow covered volcano towering 11,000ft / 3350m over you."
"Doesn't quite compare to seeing Tahoma (Mt Rainier) from the Seattle area, but still cool."
"Also on a crystal clear day, driving north across the Saint John's Bridge, you can see Mt Hood, Mt Adam, Mt St Helen's, and Rainier all at the same time."
"Also the Portland 'White Stag' billboard."
"Hard to miss that one."- Beekatiebee
How Many People Run The Steps, But Don't Go In The Museum...
"Rocky steps."- Bulky_Ad_3608
"I was more impressed by imperfect love when I visited."- Brok3n_wind
He's Out There Somewhere...
"Mothman."- Deputy_Beagle76
"No recent sightings that I know of."
"But Point Pleasant does have a yearly Mothman Festival that’s really popular."- Deputy_Beagle76
GiphyTake Flight...
"Birthplace of the Wright Brothers, Air Force base, uhhhh."
"Yeah."- carolinethebandgeek
Don't Forget Your Beignets...
"Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras."- The_Pug
Jolly Old England!
"I live in the oldest town in England."
"We have the oldest church in the world."
"My house dates to the 10th century."
"Come at me bro."- schnitzelvk
World Cup Football GIF by Manne NilssonGiphyEvery town and city in the world will be remembered for something.
Even if some might only be remembered by its residents.
Redditor VirindiPuppetDT wanted to hear about who is your town's claim to fame.
"Who is the most famous person from your hometown?"
I'm not sure who is from my humble beginnings. Just me.
Purple Neighbor
Prince GIFGiphy"Prince."
PowerfulSeat7975
"My dad used to live in Carver. I didn't find out until he moved how close he lived to Paisley Park."
Wax_Mommy
The Neighborhood
"I'll just go with two of my favorites. Michael Keaton and Fred Rogers. I lived a couple of miles from his house and went to high school next door to WGED (where he taped)."
"Our smoking area was on QED's side of the school and he'd come over and chat with us sometimes."
"It was embarrassing standing there with a cigarette in my hand while talking to him. (It didn't bother any of us to smoke in front of the Brothers) I still live in the same neighborhood and it's a catholic school, hence the Brothers."
citsonga_cixelsyd
Walk On
"I’m from NYC, so about a million people. But for my neighborhood, it’s 100% Christopher Walken."
DrVonPretzel
"The King of New York."
Demitrius
"Never knew he was a professional tap dancer!"
catincal
"Could've knocked me over with a feather when someone told me that after I saw some video short he was in dancing and then the movie America's Sweethearts."
LadyBug_0570
The Writer
"Stephen King."
Cockatiel_Animations
"Says he's from Portland, ME... pretty sure Bangor is known for him though. Especially since Derry is based off the city. I'm technically not from Bangor either, I'm from Clifton, ME."
Cockatiel_Animations
"Bangor represent!"
Junior-Lie4342
Normies
John Waters Smile GIF by Locarno Film FestivalGiphy"Michael Phelps for the normies, John Waters for everyone else."
sanibelle98
"John Waters is the best. Dude donated to a museum and asked them to name the bathrooms after him."
dismayhurta
John Waters. Saint. I want a bathroom named after me.
From Nowhere
Oh Yeah Lol GIF by Focus FeaturesGiphy"Brad Pitt. Springfield MO."
NitramXb
"I always wondered how somebody from the middle of nowhere ends up a Hollywood movie star. There's literally zero opportunities for that so how the hell."
PlzRemasterSOCOM2
Just Smile
"Michael J Fox, Burnaby BC. I grew up in Vancouver and heard many stories from friends, back in the day, of him being drinking in clubs, sitting alone, with a dumb happy smile on his face. I never ran into him, but was always on the look-out! lol. I've always had a special spot in my heart for him."
Ubba-Ga
Love Her
"Carrie from Portlandia went to my high school but there’s like 4 towns that claim her because her family moved around the local area a few times."
MadisonPearGarden
"I went to a barbecue at her house in Portland once. It was before Portlandia when she was that woman from Sleater Kinney."
mackelnuts
"I love she is known more for Portlandia than her music. Oddly, I think she might appreciate this."
TheDeadlySquid
On a brighter note...
"Jerry Springer…was our mayor…"
vajayjaybird
"He actually paid a sex worker with a bad check, and she took him to court for the bad check. He was RE-elected after this happened. I feel sad for all of us. On a brighter note... Sarah Jessica Parker, born near, but lived here for her school years George Clooney, which is not true he was actually raised in Kentucky. But his father was a newscaster in Cincinnati which is why he gets tied here."
"Nick Lachey. Doris Day. Steven Spielberg, moved from here when he was very little."
KPinCVG
In the Zone
Season 3 Episode 24 GIF by Paramount+Giphy"Rod Serling. The dude who created that odd show called Twilight Zone. A character mentions the name of my hometown in one of the episodes."
Love Him
"Martin Short."
GloomyCamel6050
Have you seen his Larry David? I thought this was the man himself for over half a decade, and finally looked at the comment section. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbZdhl5NI6Y"
doned_mest_up
"Or Eugene Levy. The community centre my grandparents would go to would have a contest for a date with Eugene Levy."
Gaslitfromwithin
The VP
"Mike Pence. My dad 'borrowed' his car when he was a teenager. Not much to tell. My dad was friends with one of Mike's younger brothers and used to take it on joyrides in the middle of the night. One night Mikes brother didn't wanna go so my dad went anyway and got caught."
Bucketofbolts559
Breaker High
"Ryan Gosling."
cjpotter82
"My friend went to high school with him in Burlington. Was annoyed about how the teachers bent over backwards to accommodate his Breaker High shooting schedule and to this day will not watch a film he is in lol."
1_art_please
"I grew up near Burlington and would see him and his Breaker High friends at the theatre often. My friend had a crush on him. Another friend of mine helped her dad paint Ryan's bedroom as a kid too."
TheDrunkyBrewster
Bad Religion
stan marsh pictures GIF by South Park Giphy"L. Ron Hubbard. Unfortunately."
BadDiscoJanet
"Agreed. He brought a horrible plague with Scientology. However, Battlefield Earth was an incredible novel. One of my favorites, in fact."
JonSmith12345
Founders
"Probably Les Schwab, the founder of Les Schwab Tires. It's a large chain in the western states, started in tiny little Prineville, OR."
rock-hound
"They would do February Beef Month (?) when I was growing up and in Eugene there was a local bicycle shop that would do February Tofu Month with a purchase of new wheels. Always loved it."
weareborgunicons
"I work for the company and the new owners have left us alone for the most part on the store level. Store quality really depends on the management team that's running it. I've seen clean orderly stores that put a big emphasis on customer service & quality of work and others that are just shit shows."
_lentes
Lead me back...
"Taylor Dayne? She sat in front of me in French class."
M_Looka
"Man her songs were so underrated."
Fomalhot
"I'd forgotten about her! To the YouTube."
LaComtesseGonflable
Creepy
Crow Killer Blues GIF by Rob ZombieGiphy"Rob Zombie."
drycleaningisntdry
"The 1st time I ever heard him talk he was faking a trash English accent and for the next 10 years I thought he was British."
Fomalhot
For the Music
"Cliff Burton is probably the most famous. The high school even has a music scholarship which his parents fund with then royalties they receive in his name."
leftshoesnug
"As a newborn until age 5 I lived in Castro Valley, from 60-65, and my parents had friends named Burton. I just wrote my sister to see if they were the same Burtons. I’m not a big Metallica fan, and never realized he was from there."
Emergency_Market_324
People come from everywhere. Good to know anyone, from anywhere can be anything.
Do any celebrities come from where you grew up? Let us know in the comments below.
When I was growing up in Astoria one summer. We had a kidnapper on the loose. That was intense.
"Trips"
gay men GIFGiphy"Several prominent men were caught having gay orgies during 'hunting trips.'"
Drained
"I lived in a smallish town (about 5000) in the 90s. We had one of those big water towers in the middle of town. Sometime in the 80s a town worker, who was unsatisfied with his job and life, decided to take his own life. One May night he jimmied himself up to the ladder that was 12 ft from the ground, climbed to the top, unscrewed the man hole at the top, and jumped in."
"Subsequently he drowned and wasn’t found for a few months. I wasn’t living in the town during the event, so I don’t know of any funny tasting or discoloured water from the taps, but the town assures the people that the filtration system had down its job and very minimal human waste made it through the filters. Everything was drained and disinfected."
dazedNdizorientated
Punched
"In the span of 4 months in a town of 800 someone was murdered and someone broke into the undersheriff’s house (presumably to rob the place) but his daughter was home the guy punched her in the face and ran. According to his daughter the guy 'punched like a little *itch."
birdofswag2
Rich Kid
"Rich kid son of local Chamber of Commerce president tries to burn down a homeless encampment, fire ends up burning right up to an expensive neighborhood. Gets arrested, released on bail, charges brought for trying to kill homeless, charges dropped, charged again with lesser crimes, eventually judge gently slaps his wrist and says he isn’t a criminal because he is mentally ill. Whole community is miffed, but not enough to get out pitchforks because only homeless people got hurt."
ThisIsDen
And Recliners?
Season 17 Television GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"The city government is trying to outlaw burning couches on your front lawn. I didn’t know this happened often enough to be an issue, but it’s getting a ton of push back."
handsthefram
Burning couches. That has to have an even more interesting story.
Manhunt
money run GIF by Juan BillyGiphy"I also should probably mention in the city, there’s a guy stealing catalytic converters all over the city and it’s having a city wide manhunt for this man that’s just ripping them off of anything he can get away with."
Link_hunter9
Crazy Year
"Our mayor got killed and it's possible to hear the gunshots on a local radio recording. He was being interviewed on that radio, left to his car and got shot seconds after leaving, it seems that he owed a lot of money to someone and got killed, it became news on the whole country, that was a crazy year."
Regular-Attorney-310
Vote on It
"City had a vote on whether to change the school mascot (a Native American with headdress). People who wanted to keep it rallied behind the son of the Native American man who initially created the mascot years ago. Then census evidence came out casting doubt on whether that guy was actually Native American."
scrotdust
The Spiller
"At one point in my hometown a Domino's manager was arrested for arson after burning down a Papa John's in an attempt to increase revenue."
Realistic-Cheetah-14
Rivals
Angela Bassett Burn GIFGiphy"At one point in my hometown, a Domino's manager was arrested for arson after burning down a Papa John's in an attempt to increase revenue."
Grentain
Any place you live holds secrets. And you place you live (big or small) has history. So embrace it all and spill that tea.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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Stereotypes suck.
Crime, unfortunately.
That's what it's known for on TV and movies and video games but it is so much more than that. It's amazing communities and small businesses and sh*tty roads and a lot of diversity ... I just love it so much and it makes me cringe every time I hear a flippant joke about my beloved home.
I guess if you're not from here you probably don't notice it, but we're the butt of a LOT of jokes.
Yikes.
Hitler was born there.
Sorta similar, but my town is known for the "Hitler Dad".
https://www.nj.com/news/2008/12/child_named_after_adolf_hitler.html
Atlanta?
Coca-Cola.
I think I had a layover there once.
I thought the joke was if you ever flew in the US you had a layover there.
Sounds delicious.
GiphyA plate of food that one would think was the hot item at a raccoon restaurant.
Long shot but Rochester? I'm thinking of the garbage plate.
Honestly, this could be a lot of places.
Chlamydia and Ice.
Sounds like most of rural Australia.
Australia's koalas have taken additional steps to cope with the bushfires.
How wholesome!
Jelly Belly Factory!
I got to go there in 2005! I was disappointed we didn't get to see the jellybeans actually being made, though. Just a tram tour around the perimeter of a warehouse.
I just recently found an old jellybean container full of dried-out jelly husks, it was the most fascinating thing. I'd never seen a jellybean rot and leave this porous exoskeleton behind.
Houston!
GiphyWe're the place you call in the cliche when you say "we have a problem".
I love calling my dad (ex Mission Control) every so often and saying this.
What a kind city.
Helping people who Come From Away when they're stranded.
Gander! The whole world owes you a debt of gratitude.
What's going on in Milwaukee?
Two girls stabbing a third girl because they wanted to meet Slenderman...
Greater Milwaukee area. Also home to the Making a Murderer guy and Gypsy Rose's boyfriend.