The First Facility Management Blog

In the small town of Webster, MA, the locals are getting rather frustrated. One of the major tourist attractions is getting plenty of attention, but for all the wrong reasons. Webster Lake, better known as Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, which is located near the Connecticut border, has the distinction of claiming the longest place name in the United States.

Unfortunately, some of the road signs pointing to the landmark contain spelling mistakes, which could compromise the tourist trade. After all, what’s the good of being photographed next to a sign with spelling mistakes?

According to the Wikipedia entry,

The translation of the name of the lake is believed to be, “Fishing Place at the Boundaries — Neutral Meeting Grounds.” Spelling of the long name varies, even on official signs near the lake; in 2009, following six years of press reports, the local Chamber of Commerce agreed to have the spelling corrected on its signs, where a 45-letter version of the name arrayed in a semicircle was used. It did not correspond to any of the two dozen variants. (See photo above–correct or incorrect?)

For the record, the official correct spelling is either Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg or the 49-letter option: Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.