Freaky Friday Files: Paper Towns

Ash
8 hours ago
3 min read

Hi friends! Happy Fri-YAY! And yay for the long weekend for Easter. In today's Freaky Friday Files, I thought we could take a look at something known as "Paper Towns" (also sometimes called "Phantom Settlements"). These are fictional locations that are purposely put into maps, databases, or atlases by cartographers, usually to serve as copyright traps. If a different cartographer copies their work, the "fake towns" show evidence of plagiarism. Let's talk about them.

PIN IT

Paper Towns

What are some famous Paper Towns?

Agloe, New York: This fake town was invented in the 1930s by General Drafting Company as a copyright trap. Ironically, a general store was built there called the Agloe General Store, and the fake settlement became a real one. I think this is the area that John Green used in his book Paper Towns.
Argleton, Lancashire, England: Argletown was a fake town that appeared on both Google Maps AND Google Earth LOL (although later removed). Argletown did not physically exist. It's not clear whether Argleton was supposed to be a copyright trap or something else. Many theories about Argleton have arisen over the years, but one cartographer believes that it was just a genuine mistake.
Trap Streets, London: This one isn't just in one place; it's a series of fake streets put in the London A-Z to catch plagiarism. A trap street was even mentioned in Doctor Who, how cool! I need to go back and watch Doctor Who.
Beatosu and Goblu, Ohio: These are two fake towns that were put into the 1978-1979 Michigan Map. Beatosu is a reference to Ohio State University's archives "Beat OSU", and Goblu is a slogan from the University of Michigan fans "Go Blue". LOL, very clever. Chairman of the State Highway Commission Peter Fletcher (and ex-alumnus) created these as part of his sly sense of humour.
Mount Richard, Colorado: In the 1970s, a mapmaker called Richard Ciacci created a fake mountain on his map of Boulder County, Colorado. It took at least 2 years for anyone to notice.

What are some types of Paper Towns?

Copyright Traps: As discussed, copyright traps are designed to protect Intellectual Property (IP) and detect plagiarism.
General Mistakes: Sometimes, maybe people think they are putting the right thing into their maps and haven't done enough research.
Planned/Failed Developments: It could be that there was meant to be a settlement in a certain place, but it didn't go through for whatever reason.

What can we learn from Paper Towns?

We shouldn't always take information at face value; let's double-check. Verified sources are great.
Google Maps can be wrong (although I think most of us know that - I have ended up in some weird places).
Paper towns highlight that maps are not always the perfect reflection of reality; they are products of human effort and/or human deception.
Paper Towns are great at detecting plagiarism.
Maps can create reality. A Paper Town can become a real place, e.g., Agloe, New York.
Automated systems have limitations - we should be thinking about this in the digital age of AI.
Cartographers have a fun sense of humour when they add in "trap streets" LOL.