Lizard Lick, North Carolina
| Lizard Lick | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 Lizard Lick
|
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| Coordinates: 35°49′00″N 78°22′30″W / 35.81667°N 78.37500°WCoordinates: 35°49′00″N 78°22′30″W / 35.81667°N 78.37500°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | North Carolina |
| County | Wake County |
| Elevation | 331 ft (101 m) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 27591 |
| Area code(s) | 919 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1021251 |
Lizard Lick is an unincorporated community in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. The community is located at the crossroads of Lizard Lick Road and NC 97. Lizard Lick has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.
The community is approximately 20 miles (32 km) east of the state capital of Raleigh. It is about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Wendell and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Zebulon.
According to NC historian William S. Powell, the town got its name from a "passing observer who saw many lizards sunning and licking themselves on a rail fence." Regardless of the town name, local community members who are native to the area are proud of their origins, and their economic future in the area. In May 1997, the state installed the first traffic light in Lizard Lick, marking a new period of "increasing property values" and growth.
In March 1998 the small town received publicity when Nintendo first released the Nintendo 64 game, "Yoshi's Story" there, with the name of the host town reflecting the Nintendo character Yoshi's ability to extend his tongue over a long distance. The pre-launch choice of Lizard Lick was the idea of Pasadena, California-based PR consultant Dereck Andrade. Andrade had been retained by the public relations firm Golin-Harris in Los Angeles to launch Yoshi's Story. Andrade chose two cities - French Lick, Indiana and Lizard Lick, as possible launch sites for the game. Lizard Lick was finally chosen over French Lick because the character of Yoshi was a dinosaur, which was related to a lizard. The game's launch in Lizard Lick was the largest event ever covered by the news media for a Nintendo product, bringing national and international news media to the crossroads town, including ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News and NBC's The Today Show.
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