Odd Road Names

References to frying pans in Herndon, Va., have no traceable origin. Frying Pan Road runs from Monroe Street to Sully Road (Va. 28). Nearby Frying Pan Creek is said to have once been a hangout spot for copper miners who may have left behind utensils, perhaps even frying pans. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Some roads are named after people who played an important role in the growth of the community. Father Hurley Boulevard is named after the priest who helped found the Germantown Alliance in Maryland. He was the first priest for the Mother Seton Catholic Church in Germantown, Md. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Braddock Road was constructed by troops overseen by Gen. Edward Braddock during the beginning of the French and Indian War. The road was used to transport supplies from Alexandria, Va., to Winchester, Va., and was an important link between the East Coast and the Ohio Territory. Today, Braddock Road runs from Old Town to Aldie in Loudoun County. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Sydenstricker Road in Fairfax County has an unusual name. Some roads adopted their names from the last names of local historical figures while others were named after nearby streams or geographic features. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Rolling Road derives its name from the practice of packing tobacco into barrels that were then transported on "rolling roads" from inland plantations to the Potomac River. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Many people wonder where Popes Head Road got its name. The word "head" may be in reference to a nearby geographic feature, as in the headwaters of a creek. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

286289 A portion of the Indian Head Highway used to run through an Algonkian Indian Reservation on the headlands of the Potomac River. Indian Head Highway (Md. 210) runs from Southeast Washington to Naval Support Facility Indian Head in Charles County, Md. It was originally designed and built to serve as a military access road to Fort Washington during the 1940s. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Hooes Road and Pohick Road are two curiously named roads on either side of the Fairfax County Parkway. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Some roads are named after nearby creeks and streams, such as Gunners Branch Road in Germantown, Md. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Wooden toll booths once stood along Little River Turnpike. One was located near its intersection with present-day Guinea Road. The name references the type of coin once used to pay the toll. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Today the Little River Turnpike isn't a toll road despite being called a "turnpike." But in the 19th century, the 34-mile-long thoroughfare operated as a toll road from 1806 to 1896. Only a short section of Va. 236 still holds onto its old designation as a turnpike between Fairfax City and Annandale. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine

Gallows Road in Virginia is said to be the route on which prisoners were taken by wagon to an execution site at Freedom Hill in present-day Tysons Corner. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WTOP/Dave Dildine