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I finally met the guy who collects maps of places that don't exist
At a vintage paper show in Portland last fall, this older dude had a whole booth of maps for fictional towns. I asked him why he bothered with fake places. He pulled out one labeled "Moonbeam, Oregon" from 1967 and said, 'Every spot on here was plotted by a bored highway worker who wanted to leave a joke behind.' He had 40 of them, all from the same guy. Made me wonder how many fake towns are hiding in real atlases - has anyone else run into something like that?
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troy4391mo ago
Is the same guy still making them, or did that highway worker stop decades ago? That's a really cool find, honestly.
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charlie_roberts871mo ago
A buddy of mine worked on a road crew back in Ohio and swears he saw the same guy refilling those markers near his town every couple years. Said the guy was quiet, just showed up with a truck full of blue glass and got to work without talking to anyone. Never got his name, but it made that stretch of road feel like someone actually gave a damn.
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