I'm here in Universal, Pennsylvania.

In 1905, U.S.

Steel built a cement plant here to supply cement for all of its steel mills nearby.

That subsidiary company was called Universal Portland Cement Company, and thus the company town that grew up around the plant became known as Universal.

The cement factory closed in 1979, but Universal lives on today.

Stay tuned for more weird Pennsylvania place names.

I'm Noles.

I'm here to explore and explain.

Over in Westmoreland County, we find ourselves in the borough of Export.

The Westmoreland Coal Company began operations here in the 1880s, and by 1904, the mines at Export were the largest in all of Westmoreland County, as all that coal was being shipped out to other markets.

What better name was there than Export?

Walkchalk in Armstrong County was settled in about 1830 when a grist mill was built in a small village that grew up around it.

The men of the village formed a marching band, but they were so offbeat and undisciplined, the miller said they ought to walk chalk.

An old phrase meaning basically get your act together.

Further north in Jefferson County, the village of Ohl was pretty cute and small.

Ohl was named after Edward Ohl, the head of a local landowning family and keeper of the general store.

On the banks of Breakneck Creek in Butler County.

We find not just another town, but another planet.

In 1873, the Mars Post office was established.

Some say the postmaster's wife was an avid astronomer, and the town was named for her hobby.

But the historical consensus is that it is a shortened form of the postmaster's name, Samuel Marshall.

Just a hop, skip and a jump from Mars is Moon.

When Allegheny County was established in 1788, Moon Township spanned from Montour Run to Raccoon Creek and was named for the crescent light curve of the Ohio River.

It was split in half when Beaver County was created in 1800, but two of the original townships there were First and Second Moon.

In 1855, another chunk of Moon Township was broken off, becoming Crescent Township, and from 1952 to 1992, the Pittsburgh Airport was located not on Earth, but in Moon.

100 miles northeast of Moon in Clarion and Venango counties is Venus.

I couldn't find any information on why this crossroads got its planetary name, so leave your best theories in the comments down below.

Drifting in Clearfield County was named for drifts, although which kind of drift is up for debate?

Some say the enormous snow banks that covered the landscapes in the winter.

Others say the coal mines in the area which were built using the drift method.

Personally, I'm inclined to believe the founder was just a big fan of The Fast and Furious.

Lock Haven in Clinton County was so named for its position along the West Branch Canal, opened along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River in 1833.

One of its many locks was located here.

The river was wide and provided safe harbor or haven to loggers, boatmen, and others traveling the length of the canal.

In northeast Pennsylvania, the mountains north of Scranton are home to Chinchilla, not the animal, The town.

Originally called Leeches Flats.

The postmistress there in the 1880s decided to refresh the town's name and chose to honor her chinchilla fur scarf.

The town was renamed Pershing during World War One to honor the general, but allegiance to the rodent proved strong enough to reinstate the name Chinchilla in the 1920s.

South of there, in the Poconos, is Analomink.

Although it sounds like a fur, it's a Native American name meaning tumbling water, so named for a fast moving creek which feeds into the Delaware Rive.

In the Philadelphia metro area is Crum Lynne.

Originally called Leperville, the post office name was changed in the 1870s when Crum Creek was dammed, which created a small lake.

Lynne being an Old English term for lake or waterfall.

Newton Hamilton in Mifflin County was laid out by Margaret Hamilton in 1802, and local residents took to calling it Hamiltonville.

She seemed to dislike that, and though no official explanation of the Newton prefix exists, it seems to be a shortening of New Town.

The name has been in use since at least the 1840s.

Finally, we end up back in Westmoreland County in the village of Reduction.

In 1898, the American Reduction Company began operating an incineration plant along the Yough River here making money by burning trash coming out of Pittsburgh.

The company built 16 workers houses on the bluff above.

The plant closed in 1936, and the entire property was sold to a private owner, the children of whom still owned the entire village nearly a century later.

In fact, Reduction is currently for sale and for just shy of $1 million, the entire 76 acres with built in rental income could be yours.

That's all I've got for you in today's episode of Weird Pennsylvania Place Names.

Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.