This Tennessee Town Was Named One Of The Hardest To Pronounce In America

Every state across the country has those few towns that are difficult to say if you're not from the area, but there's a few that take the cake in the "hard to pronounce" category.

Whether it be a foreign influence or have its roots in Native American culture, there are unique town names across the country that can be difficult to say. Sometimes, there's even an argument amongst locals on how to say a town name.

Reader's Digest looked at the most difficult town names to pronounce across the entirety of America, and looking at this Tennessee town, I can tell you already that this was one I couldn't even sound out. It's got a few too many vowels and silent letters.

Tennessee's Most Difficult Town To Pronounce

There's a lot of Native American influence on lake and town names in Tennessee, and this town name is no different in its origin, but it's got some beautiful views despite it's hard-to-pronounce name.

It's Ooltewah! It's believed to be the hardest to pronounce because of the pure fact that it's not pronounced like it's spelled - there is no L sound, the T is a D, and it makes a whole lack of sense.

The town's pronunciation is Oo-da-wah. The name comes from ultiwa, a Cherokee cognate of the Muscogee word italwa, meaning "principal ground." In the 2020 Census, the town was known to have 684 residents.

As for the town's history, it used to be the county seat of James County, a county that went bankrupt in 1919 and was incorporated into Hamilton County.

In 1861, a resident of Ooltewah, Alfred Cate, led a group of Southern Union soldiers to destroy three Chatanooga-area rail bridges to pave the way for a Union invasion in East Tennessee.

In 1863, the 4th Michigan Cavalry entered Ooltewah and captured seventeen Confederate soldiers - including two officers - and destroyed a train of four wagons. The next day, they destroyed the Ooltewah railroad bridge, burned 4,000 pounds of flour, and captured a Confederate Lieutenant Colonel before moving on.