Fact or Fiction? What's The Story Behind This Odd Minnesota Road

Minnesota has some 'quirky' town names for people unfamiliar with them. Think Ely, Owatonna, Mahtomedi, and even Edina will raise some eyebrows among some people. While it's true some of those names are hard to pronounce if you aren't from here, there are some road names that you see on the interstate system that are equally interesting. Recently the reason behind one 'odd' Minnesota road name was shared, and the story behind the name is almost as interesting as the road name itself. Here is the story behind the name for Johnny Cake Ridge Road which runs through Eagan, Burnsville, and Apple Valley.

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Dakota County Commissioner Joe Atkins shared the story behind the name of the road that runs through a portion of Dakota County.

According to his social media post, the road gets its name from Ohio, where that name came from a traveler who has stopped to rest and eat.

Dakota County is home to a road named for Native American pancakes.

Johnny Cake Ridge Road, which begins in Eagan and ends in Apple Valley, was given its unique name 60 years ago by a local couple, Ethel Fitzgerald and her late husband. Back then it was just a humble gravel road, not the county highway it is today.

As the story goes, the Fitzgerald's encountered a street named “Johnny Cake Ridge Road” while traveling near Cleveland, Ohio, and they liked it so much they imported it to their hometown.

Ohio Pioneer Tobias Williams is credited with the original name. During a stop at an area tavern in 1818, Tobias was served johnnycakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He jokingly left a review of his dining experiences via a handmade sign, identifying the stop as Johnnycake Ridge, to which a large Johnnycake picture was later added.

Stagecoaches made it a frequent stop.

First popularized during the Revolutionary War, Johnnycakes are a cornmeal flatbread originated by the indigenous people of North America.

So if you are to believe Commissioner Atkins, the road is named after Native American pancakes, but I'll leave believing that story up to you.