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Council Considers Removing 'Lousetown’ Nickname For East Avenue

A map of East Avenue, alongside Brown's Slough, once referred to as  “Lousetown," according to the City of Bethel's municipal code.
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If you drive on East Avenue, alongside Brown's Slough, you’re driving through “Lousetown.” That’s according to the City of Bethel's municipal code.

 

City officials like Bethel Fire Chief Bill Howell would like to see that name change.

 

“The term “Lousetown” needs to be removed from this and everywhere else in the BMC. It’s just totally offensive,” said Chief Howell.

 

BMC is the Bethel Municipal Code. The term “Lousetown” was a nickname for an area of town now known as East Avenue, across from Brown’s Slough.

 

Pull out a dictionary and you can see why the term louse might be offensive. Louse means lice, a parasite, but could also refer to a person who is “unpleasant” or ”contemptible.”

 

Updates were proposed at last week’s City Council meeting during a discussion on requiring visible addresses on buildings. The proposal includes changing the name “Lousetown” to “East Avenue.”  

 

It may be a simple matter to change it. According to the City Administration, the term does not appear anywhere else in the code, and seems not to have entered the code until about 2001.

 

The change was introduced, and will appear again for a final vote during next Tuesday’s Council meeting, on September 11.