To begin, I've never been to Quakake. I've driven very nearby, but never stopped. Honestly, until writing this blog I wasn't even quite sure how to pronounce it. Quay-Cake? Quake-ache? Qua-ka-kay? So many fun possibilities! I think it's really Quake-ache.
Despite me having no idea how to pronounce it until today, this word has existed much earlier than today! It appears in the names of several things in northeastern[ish] PA. What kind of things, you ask?
- A Town
- A Railroad
- A Creek
- A Lake
- Probably other things Google isn't telling me about
Really? Tell me more!
Ok.
Quakake, The Town
Quakake is in the northeastern part of Schuylkill County. Its status of U6 tells me that it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. A quick look at a map proves my theory!
View Larger Map
Sure, it's 12 minutes from Hazleton, but... it's Hazleton.
A look at that map will also reveal a pretty cool looking rail system! Which brings me to...
Quakake, The Railroad
Well, it used to be the Quakake Railroad. Then they went bankrupt and became the Lehigh & Mahanoy Railroad. According to the Wikipedia article, the tracks have been abandoned for several decades, but since they're still on the maps I wonder if they're still there? Maybe I'll find out one day.
Quakake, The Creek
It's a creek, and eventually meets up with the Lehigh (from the west). Not much else to tell you here...
Quakeake, The Lake
Yeah. It's called Quakake Lake. :) It's pretty funny looking too!
It's about 20 minutes from Quakake, PA.
What does it mean?
The coolest book ever tells me the following:
- A corruption of Cuwenkeek, "pine lands". Cuwen-hanna would signify, "pine stream".
So there you have it, kids - Quakake.
