Phantom settlement
Phantom settlements,orpaper towns,are settlements that appear on maps but do not actually exist. They are either accidents orcopyright traps.Notable examples includeArgletoninLancashire,UK andBeatosu and Goblu,US.[1]
Phantom settlements often result from copyright traps, also known as mountweazels, which is when a false entry is placed in literature to catch illegal copiers.[2]Agloe, New York,was invented on a 1930s map as a copyright trap. In 1950, a general store was built there and named Agloe General Store, as that was the name seen on the map. Thus, the phantom settlement became a real one.[3]
There are also misnamed settlements, such as the villages of Mawdesky and Dummy 1325 in Lancashire onGoogle Maps.[4]
There is asatirical conspiracy theorythat the German city ofBielefeldis a phantom settlement, despite its population of over 300,000.[5]
See also
[edit]- Paper Towns,a novel where phantom settlements become plot points
- The2015 film of the same name,based on the novel
- Paper township
- Phantom island
- Fictitious entry
References
[edit]- ^Punt, Steve (18 September 2010)."BBC Radio 4 - Punt PI, Series 3, Episode 1".BBC.Archivedfrom the original on 26 November 2022.Retrieved26 November2022.
- ^"mountweazel".Emma Wilkin.26 February 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 15 June 2021.Retrieved31 March2022.
- ^Krulwich, Robert (18 March 2014)."An Imaginary Town Becomes Real, Then Not. True Story".NPR.Archivedfrom the original on 8 May 2015.Retrieved20 March2014.
- ^"See the new villages of Mawdesky and Dummy 1325 on Google Maps".Southport Visiter.20 November 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 4 August 2017.Retrieved26 November2022.
- ^Connolly, Kate (5 September 2019)."German city offers €1m for proof it doesn't exist".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on 11 November 2020.Retrieved23 April2020.
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