Amidst Diamond Bar’s many Western-themed streets lies Strange Creek Drive, named in 1967. What’s so strange? Well, there’s no creek in the vicinity, and nobody named Strange associated with this area. By far the most prominent Strange Creek is in West Virginia, named for a local legend: In 1795, a cook named William Strange disappeared during a surveying trip and cryptic poems carved into trees began appearing afterward, e.g., “Strange is my name, and I’m on strange ground, and strange it is that I can’t be found.” That said, I’m doubtful that this bit of regional lore found its way to Diamond Bar; “Strange Creek” was also a generic location in several Western stories, so it’s likelier that developers discovered the name there. Coincidentally, Frederick E. Lewis 2nd (1884-1963), the millionaire rancher who named Diamond Bar, owned a succession of yachts called Stranger.
Find it on the map:
