Opa-locka is most likely the most misspelled city in America and it is one of my pet peeves. The city's name is a contraction of the native Indian word Opa-tisha-woka-locka that means into the high land north of the little river on which there is a camping place. Opa-locka's founder, famed aviator Glenn Curtiss, removed the four middle syllables off to contract the name to Opa-locka. There is ONE correct way to spell the name and at least three ways to botch it. There is a very interesting article about Opa-locka at http://jjd.pbase.com/image/97088341

The spelling problem is exacerbated when people see it misspelled on every one of our local TV channels when they display images of the area with city and town names depicted on weather maps and when the Florida Department of Transportation and Miami-Dade County erects road signs displaying the wrong spelling. Federal, state and county agencies consistently misspell the name of the city and airport. Numerous websites exist with the incorrect spelling including numerous other aviation websites mentioning Opa-locka Airport (new name Opa-locka Executive Airport). It was only recently that the county erected new signs at the airport's entrances spelling it correctly, after years of displaying it with an uppercase "L" and without the hyphen to the public. You would think that people would research how to spell it before they display it to the public on TV, along roadways or on the internet?

I will continue to post images of misspelled signs, websites, etc. in this gallery in the future.