You know that Washington, D.C., is named for George Washington, but how well do you know where other major cities got their names? Here’s a look at how a few of our bigger American municipalities found their monikers.
1. Atlanta
The ATL was very nearly the MAR. In the early 1840s, what is now Atlanta called itself “Marthasville,” a nod to former governor Wilson Lumpkin’s daughter Martha. The name changed to Atlanta in 1847, and although J. Edgar Thomson, chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad, gets credit for coining the “Atlanta” name, there is some debate over what inspired him. Some sources claim the aforementioned Martha Lumpkin’s middle name was Atalanta. Others claim that Thomson took inspiration from Greek mythology’s Atalanta. Still others claim that Thomson shortened the name from his original idea, “Atlantica-Pacifica.”
2. Baltimore
Charm City gets its name from Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, the first Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland from 1632 until 1675.
3. Boston
Like a lot of New England cities, colonists named Boston after the city they left back home. In this case, Boston, MA, is named after Boston, Lincolnshire, England. Unlike its New World namesake, Boston, England, is still fairly small; its population is just a hair under 60,000.
4. Chicago
Chicago may be the Windy City, but its name has a fragrant origin. “Chicago” comes from the French pronunciation of shikaakwa the word for “wild garlic” in the Miami-Illinois language. Chicago was originally rife with the wild garlic we also know as ramps.
5. Cincinnati
Cincinnati was originally known as Losantiville, but that didn’t sit well with territorial governor Arthur St. Clair. During a 1790 visit to Losantiville, St. Clair changed the name to Cincinnati to honor the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of former Continental Army officers. (You guessed it; St. Clair was a member of the society.)
6. Cleveland
Cleveland takes its name from General Moses Cleaveland, a surveyor and investor for the Connecticut Land Company who led the first group to settle in the area in 1796. Cleaveland oversaw the planning of the early town, then headed back to Connecticut a few months later and never returned to the town that bears his name.
It’s not exactly clear when the first “a” in his surname got dropped from the city’s name, but one story explains that in 1830 the Cleveland Advertiser was pressed for space on its headline and simply axed the “a.” The change caught on, and the town became known as Cleveland.
7. Denver
Colorado’s capital is named after James W. Denver, a 19th-century Renaissance man who served in Congress, fought in the United States Army, and served as Governor of the Kansas Territory. He only visited his namesake city twice, in 1875 and 1882, and was reportedly unhappy that the residents didn’t give him more of a hero’s welcome.
8. Detroit
The Motor City gets its name from the French word détroit, or “strait,” because of its position along the strait connecting Lake Erie to Lake Huron.
9. Los Angeles
The City of Angels’ name has an appropriately religious background. Spanish settlers originally dubbed the settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula, or “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion.” The official name was eventually shortened to El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles, and it eventually became just “Los Angeles.”
10. Miami
The hotbed of southern Florida is named after the Mayaimi, a Native American tribe that lived around Lake Okeechobee until the 17th or 18th century.
11. Minneapolis
This Minnesota city gets its name from two languages. In 1852 an early schoolteacher combined the Sioux word mni for “water” with the Greek word polis for “city” to get a name that paid tribute to the town’s lakes.
12. New Orleans
French settlers originally called the Big Easy Nouvelle-Orléans in honor of Phillippe II, Duke of Orleans, who was Regent of France at the time of the city’s founding.
13. Orlando
Disney World’s hometown is another city whose name has murky origins. One local legend claims that the city is named after the character in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, but the more commonly accepted tale is that a man named Orlando Reeves owned a plantation and sugar mill a bit north of what became the city. Early settlers found where Reeves had carved his name in a tree and assumed that it was a grave marker to a soldier who died in the Seminole War and mistakenly named their settlement after him.
14. Phoenix
When the Arizona city was first taking off in the late 1860s, settlers realized that their little town needed a name. Founder Jack Swilling, a Confederate veteran, wanted to name the town Stonewall in honor of Stonewall Jackson, but Darrell Duppa recognized that their site had been a Native American settlement centuries earlier. He suggested Phoenix because their new city would rise from the ruins of the former civilization.
15. Portland
There was a 50-50 shot that Portland, OR, was going to end up being called Boston, OR. In 1845 what is now known as Portland was just a small settlement called “the Clearing.” Settlers Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove both wanted to name the settlement after their own hometowns. Lovejoy was from Boston, while Pettygrove was from Portland, ME. The pair settled their argument by flipping a penny. Pettygrove and Portland won the best-two-out-of-three contest, and the city became Portland. The so-called “Portland Penny” is still on display at the Oregon History Center.
16. San Antonio
The first Spanish missionaries and explorers came to what is now San Antonio on June 13, 1691, the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padua. They named their settlement in his honor.
17. Seattle
Seattle gets its name from an English corruption of the name of Si’ahl, a Duwamish chief who was a valuable ally to the area’s early white settlers.
* * * * * *
Which cities should we hit in the inevitable follow-up? And how’d your town get its name?
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Over the Rainbow: The Technicolor Life of the Man Who Created Oz
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Strange Geographies: Salvation Mountain
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22 Fictional Characters Whose Names You Don’t Know
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31 Unbelievable High School Mascots
Comments (94)
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Although I’ve lived in California for the past 18 years, I’m originally from Newport News, VA. I always thought that was an odd name for a city. Does anyone know the origins to that name?
posted by Justin on 8-24-2010 at 2:53 pm
Columbus, OH.
We know it is named after the explorer. But why is it named after him when the city is in the middle of Ohio?
posted by Jason J on 8-24-2010 at 2:57 pm
Sebastapol, CA used to be kind of a rough and tumble place. A passerby witnessed a fight and said it reminded him of Sebastapol, Russia. Or so the story goes.
posted by maggie on 8-24-2010 at 3:05 pm
Sir Walter Raleigh – Raleigh, NC
posted by Leslie on 8-24-2010 at 3:09 pm
Lord Baltimore also gave his name to three of Maryland’s counties: Cecil, Calvert, and Baltimore County. His wife gave her name to a fourth: Anne Arundel. I’m pretty sure that neither of them ever set foot in North America.
posted by Cordelya on 8-24-2010 at 3:21 pm
Justin: check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_News,_Virginia#Name
posted by Cordelya on 8-24-2010 at 3:23 pm
Eufaula AL -the story goes that an Indian tribe lived here next to the Chattahoochee river. An Indian mother yelled to her child, “Get back from the water or ‘you-fall-a’ in!”. Some magical way it turned into the spelling Eufaula. I’m not saying it’s true, just it’s the story! I’m curious if Eufaula OK has heard those same rumors.
posted by Tricia on 8-24-2010 at 3:26 pm
And Milwaukee is Algonquin for the good land.
Thank you, Alice Cooper. I was not aware of that.
posted by Alice Cooper on 8-24-2010 at 3:28 pm
Charlotte, NC is named after the queen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife of King George III of the UK. Charlotte is in Mecklenburg County and nicknamed the Queen City!
http://healthyhomemarket.blogspot.com/
posted by Carly on 8-24-2010 at 3:40 pm
NOOOO! Not you, too, Mental Floss! Chicago is NOT the Windy City because it’s blustery there!
It was named that by a New York newspaper editor, not for the city’s weather, but for the propensity of its occupants to brag about its greatness! The PEOPLE were long-winded, or windy! This happened during an argument over who would host the World’s Fair. Chicago ultimately won.
You should know better, MF.
posted by loripop on 8-24-2010 at 3:45 pm
This is how I have been told my town came to be called Atwood – it was a a stop on the railroad and when passangers would inquire about their whereabouts the answer was “we are at wood” – as the steam train stopped here to get the wood needed to keep traveling on
posted by Jackie on 8-24-2010 at 3:51 pm
Grand Junction, Colorado
The Colorado River was originally known as the Grand River. The joining of the Grand [Colorado] and Gunnison Rivers was an ideal place for a settlement in western Colorado in 1881. The larger river was the Grand, so the junction of the rivers and the settlement were named after the Colorado River’s original name.
posted by hummer on 8-24-2010 at 4:02 pm
I believe San Diego was named for the German word for “whales Vagina”
:)
posted by Troy Lee Wells on 8-24-2010 at 4:03 pm
The are around El Paso, TX besides at one point being Franklin, TX, had originally been called El Paso del Norte de las Americas, or the passage north to the americas.
posted by Oscar on 8-24-2010 at 4:03 pm
Not much mystery to my city. San Francisco and our patron saint, St. Francis. The best ceremony in honor of St. Francis is the annual blessing of the pets at a local Catholic Church.
posted by Decca on 8-24-2010 at 4:03 pm
St. Paul, MN…twin city of Minneapolis was originally named Pigs Eye for a trader who was exiled from the local fort for selling whiskey to Native Americans. Father Lucien Galtier later built a chapel at the river landing and decided St. Paul was a more appropriate name for the settlement. St. Paul became the capitol city when plans for capitol building were stolen from St. Peter, MN and brought to St. Paul.
posted by Robb on 8-24-2010 at 4:16 pm
Taht would be Atwood TN
posted by Jackie on 8-24-2010 at 4:17 pm
Loripop — This would be a valid scolding if the article was about the origins of the Windy City nickname or provided the incorrect explanation.
Cool trivia, though.
posted by Jason English on 8-24-2010 at 4:39 pm
Troy, you beat me to that joke!
posted by Stacy on 8-24-2010 at 4:41 pm
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada was originally called Berlin after the German city but during WWI anti-German sentiments led to the city changing its name. It was renamed Kitchener in 1916 in honour of the recently deceased Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, UK Secretary of State for War.
posted by Becky on 8-24-2010 at 4:51 pm
Maryland also has Harford County, named for Henry Harford, 5th (and last)Proprietor General of Maryland, bastard Great grandson of Cecilius Calvert, the 1st Proprietor General.
posted by Bobbi on 8-24-2010 at 5:05 pm
Jacksonville, Fl used to be called Cowford…becuase people used to cross their cows at a specific part of the river. The old Indian name as Piletka or Cow’s Crossing.
The city’s name was changed to Jacksonville, after President Jackson, who was better known for his Indian removal policies…
posted by graham on 8-24-2010 at 5:08 pm
@loripop – close but the Windy City nickname came after a political convention in said city and the newspapers at the time mentioned the long winded speeches given. Although I agree with the excessive bragging.
posted by RobCat on 8-24-2010 at 5:16 pm
I’m from a small city in NY near Albany that’s called Watervliet: ‘water’, fitting as it borders the Hudson, with ‘vliet’ reflecting the very Dutch past of the area, which means flows. So water flows. Which fits, in that nice bilingual way.
posted by Sarah on 8-24-2010 at 5:20 pm
I’m originally from Newport News too, and I’ve always been told that it was where Captain Christopher Newport returned with news for the settlers at Jamestown that further supplies were coming, thus the place was called Newport’s News.
posted by Kaitlin on 8-24-2010 at 5:25 pm
The etymological origin of Philadelphia has to be included!
posted by RickRoll on 8-24-2010 at 5:31 pm
I think a much more likely and logical explanation for Minneapolis is that Minnesota was named for the native word for water because of its many lakes and its capitol, like Indianapolis for Indiana, is just a combination of “Minnesota” and “polis.”
Occam’s Razor.
posted by Wondersaurus Rex on 8-24-2010 at 6:12 pm
@Sarah – to expand, the vliet portion comes from the Dutch patroon,Van Vliet, who owned the large tract of land that comprises Watervliet and several other neighboring towns. All of this area was owned by just a handful of these patroons and their names are all over the place.
I’m stunned to see another person from Watervliet on here.
posted by Jay on 8-24-2010 at 6:35 pm
Greensboro, NC is named after Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Greene who was really important in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
posted by caroline on 8-24-2010 at 6:58 pm
Bemidji, MN! The first city on the Mississippi!!
posted by Sunny on 8-24-2010 at 7:04 pm
What is New York & Oklahoma City named after?
posted by Rick on 8-24-2010 at 7:07 pm
Loripop, you need better reading comprehension…
posted by Yams on 8-24-2010 at 7:07 pm
I love reading stuff like this. Thanks for the info!
posted by Joe on 8-24-2010 at 7:41 pm
My hometown of Lake Charles, LA is named after Charles Sallier, one of the early French settlers. It was originally called Charlie’s Lake.
posted by Chad on 8-24-2010 at 7:50 pm
I would also suggest an article where you investigate and determine the reason some communities utilize different pronunciations than expected. There are at least three towns in Iowa along that I could name:
• Nevada, pronounced nehVAYdah
• Tripoli, pronounced trihPOlah
• Madrid, pronounced MADrid
-”BB”-
posted by Bicycle Bill on 8-24-2010 at 7:56 pm
Another name story I love…
I grew up in the smallish town of Randolph, New Jersey. In elementary school we were taught the town was named after a Mr. Hartshorn FitzRandolph, which, we can all agree, is the greatest name in the history of names.
posted by maggie on 8-24-2010 at 7:57 pm
The town of Huntsville, AL (Home of the US Space and Rocket Center and Marshall Spaceflight Center)was originally called Twickingham after Twickingham England. It was changed to Huntsville to honor John Hunt, one of the original settlers.
Learned that in 3rd grade at Rolling Hills Elementary in Huntsville, AL!
posted by Kathy on 8-24-2010 at 8:13 pm
How about:
King of Prussia, PA
Bird in Hand, PA
Maidenhead, PA
Intercourse, PA
Hell, MI
Accident, MD
Boring, MD
Halfway, MD
Model, TN
Frog Level, NC
Groseclose, VA
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 8-24-2010 at 8:14 pm
I live the burgeoning metropolis of Beacon Falls, CT (OK, OK, we are just eeking out 4,000 residents…), but the legend goes that there was an indian named Beacon who fell in love with the daughter of mayor. When he couldn’t have her, he climbed up to the top of High Rock and jumped to his death. Hence, Beacon *Falls*.
I’m not sure of the validity, but everyone ’round these parts claims it’s the truth…
posted by Teacher in a Combat Zone on 8-24-2010 at 8:44 pm
The name of my city — Thunder Bay, Ontario — has an interesting history. The city was formed in 1970 through the amalgamation of two by then contiguous towns, Port Arthur and Fort William.
The area had long been generally known as the Lakehead: the local university, founded in 1967, is called “Lakehead University” and Ontario Government Bill 118 was entitled “An Act to incorporate the City of The Lakehead”. However, certain local interests were determined on the name Thunder Bay. The issue went to a plebiscite in 1969; but instead of a straight fight voters were given a three-way choice between Thunder Bay, Lakehead and The Lakehead. The vote was split; with 15,870 voting for Thunder Bay, 15,302 for Lakehead and 8,377 for The Lakehead. Thunder Bay, selected by only 40% of the voters, was thereupon declared the people’s choice
Democracy triumphant!
posted by Gollum on 8-24-2010 at 8:52 pm
Memphis, TN-named after the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River. We even have a Pyramid-but I bet the Egyptians didn’t have the possibility of theirs being turned into a Bass Pro Shop. :)
posted by stellar on 8-24-2010 at 8:57 pm
@Chad-My husband was stationed in Ft. Polk and we used to go to Lake Charles for shopping/real world civilization. :) It’s a cool town!
posted by stellar on 8-24-2010 at 9:01 pm
This is slightly off-topic, except insofar as it relates to Portland, but the state name “Oregon” is a complete fabrication and has no relation to any language, Native American or otherwise. It is said to have resulted from a misreading of a garbled misprint of the word “Wisconsin” (of all things!) on an early French map of North America.
Then again, “California” is based on a fictional land inhabited by black Amazons.
posted by Peter on 8-24-2010 at 9:16 pm
I’m from a tiny town called North, South Carolina. It is not in the northern part of SC, nor is it in North Carolina (which I’ve been asked–as if I don’t know my own hometown!). It’s actually about 30 miles south of the capital city of Columbia, in the middle of the state.
The town was founded as a railroad town in the 1890s. Three men each donated 100 acres of land to create the town, and then the eldest–John F. North–was elected mayor. I think the railroad company actually named the town after our first mayor, forever ensuring that every stranger would make fun of our town’s name. :)
posted by Haley on 8-24-2010 at 9:17 pm
Houston, TX named after Sam Houston the first president of the Republic of Texas.
Austin, TX named after one of the founding fathers of Texas, Stephen F Austin.
posted by Steve C on 8-24-2010 at 9:18 pm
Thanks everyone for the Newport News info! I was thinking it might have something to do with Sir Christopher Newport.
I’d have to say it’s much more interesting name than Modesto, CA, which is where I’m stuck now, being that I married a California girl.
posted by Justin on 8-24-2010 at 9:26 pm
Secaucus is a town in Hudson County, in the New York metro area. (It is in the NJ Meadowlands.)
The community name derives from Algonquian term variously translated as “salt marsh,” “black snake” and “where the snake hides.”
posted by moggiemomma on 8-24-2010 at 9:29 pm
@ Rick – New York is after York, England. (As is Boston and I imagine various other cities’ names.)
Oklahoma, as per Wikipedia: The state’s name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning “red people”
posted by moggiemomma on 8-24-2010 at 9:33 pm
You forgot Mili-wah-kay, meaning “the good land.”
posted by Nor Cal Beer Guy on 8-24-2010 at 10:09 pm
According to Wikipedia, King of Prussia was named after a popular tavern named after Frederick II of Prussia (the son of Frederick William I of “Potsdam Giants” fame).
posted by stellar on 8-24-2010 at 10:12 pm
Little Rock, AR…Named after a little rock. Go figure.
posted by umyeah on 8-24-2010 at 10:32 pm
I’m pretty sure that Atlanta was also named Terminus, as it was the terminus of the railroad. (Not sure if that was before or after Marthasville.) And that Atlanta comes from the Western and Atlantic Railroad.
posted by Nan on 8-24-2010 at 10:34 pm
I’m from Yorktown, VA real close to Newport News which I pretty sure was named after York, England.
The very confusing thing is that the elementary school is called Yorktown Elementary, the middle school is called Yorktown Middle, and the high school is called York High School. Yorktown High school is in Arlington, VA, 3 hours away.
It sure did make going to college in northern VA interesting when people thought I went to the wrong high school (as as such asked if I knew “so and so” ) all the time!
posted by Adam C on 8-24-2010 at 10:40 pm
Along with the Yorktown High School thing, I have always thought it strange that also in Arlington is a Jamestown Elementary School and Williamsburg Middle School, obviously named for the “Historic Triangle” but still 150 miles away.
I guess that’s not exactly on topic, but I thought I’d share it anyway
posted by Adam C on 8-24-2010 at 10:43 pm
I was a tour guide in Miami some years ago and our research for the city’s name and its origin found that the word Miami/Mayami stands for “sweet/fresh water” in the native tequesta or calusa language (I forget which) – part of the reason for the name was the fresh water that used to almost geiser out of Biscayne Bay. The water came from the Florida acquafir and it was said that a ship sailing on Biscayne bay could come to one of these “geisers” and drop a bucket in the middle of the bay and get fresh/drinking water.
posted by Anthony on 8-24-2010 at 10:57 pm
My hometown has a name that is at once unusual but also rather unimaginative: Normal, so-called after the university that was established there (which was originally named Illinois State Normal University).
posted by Megan on 8-24-2010 at 11:09 pm
what about Moscow , Idaho ?
posted by doop on 8-24-2010 at 11:40 pm
Ahhh, PartiallyDeflected already mentioned the one I was going to ask about- Hell, Michigan. I never heard of the place before I moved to another town in Michigan a few years ago. I’ve heard a couple different stories about how the town got it’s name and I’ve always wondered which one is true.
Looking up the name of the place I was born doesn’t help much either!
18th century Spanish maps of Florida are the oldest known references to a place they called “Zara Zote” and as time went on that name was spelled differently on several subsequent maps, so some showed it as “Sarazota”, “Zarasota”, “Saraxota”, etc.
It’s now spelled “Sarasota”, but the true origin of the name is still unclear. Some say it was named after Sara, the daughter of Hernando De Soto, who was one of the first Spanish explorers to arrive there and make a record of it. There’s also a story that says it was a Seminole name that meant “Place Of Dancing”, or it was the name of a Seminole woman.
posted by dooflotchie on 8-25-2010 at 12:35 am
I’m originally from Silver Lake, Kansas, which is named for the oxbow lake it’s situated on. It’s really close to Topeka, Kansas, which means “a place to dig potatoes” in Kansa, the language of the original Indian tribe living at the site. Notably (and infamously), the city has changed its name twice, once in 1998 to Topikachu and again this year to Google.
@stellar – Please, please, PLEASE be joking about the Bass Pro Shop at the Pyramid.
posted by janeeyre316 on 8-25-2010 at 1:36 am
Kansas City-south wind from the Native American tribe Kansa or Kaw Tribe.
If you want to go there and I do… you can take it to mean Fart City. No wonder Dorothy left Kansas :0
posted by LiloandStitch on 8-25-2010 at 1:59 am
What no Albuquerque?
The growing village was named by the provincial governor Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdes in honour of Don Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, viceroy of New Spain from 1653 to 1660. One of de la Cueva’s aristocratic titles was Duke of Alburquerque, referring to the Spanish town of Alburquerque.
posted by Bobsen on 8-25-2010 at 2:23 am
I was always told Chicago came from a word meaning smelly union.
posted by Mae on 8-25-2010 at 3:09 am
Even though Cincinnati was named from the Society, did they get their name, in any way, from one of the early Roman Republic dictators Cincinnatus?
posted by Drakus on 8-25-2010 at 9:20 am
@PartiallyDeflected:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog_Level_Historic_District#Frog_Level
posted by Kim on 8-25-2010 at 9:22 am
I live in Waynesville. Now Frog Level is full of bums.
posted by Kim on 8-25-2010 at 9:22 am
We need Buffalo on here! This area was originally full of French settlers, trappers and traders and they named the area “Beau Fleuve” meaning Beautiful River. The English speakers of course bastardized it to Buffalo. Most people around here think it actually has to do with Buffalo being in the area… I even saw that on a television program and almost cried (well, I at least yelled loudly at the tv)
posted by Shawn on 8-25-2010 at 9:53 am
Justin – I feel your pain, having been stuck in Tracy, CA myself for the past 18 years. But the story that is told about how Modesto (hometown of George Lucas, Jeremy Renner, Mark Spitz, Chandra Levy and Ginormica, among others) is more interesting than you might suspect. Supposedly, it was to be named after financier William C. Ralston, who declined the honor. A Spanish-speaking railroad worker at the naming ceremony said he was “muy modesto” (very modest), hence the name of the city.
At least you don’t live in Manteca, CA. “Manteca” is the Spanish word for “lard.”
posted by Henry on 8-25-2010 at 10:19 am
Was born in Brooksville, FL.
Brooksville was named in “honor” of Rep Preston Brooks of South Carolina. In 1856, Brooks beat Sen Charles Sumner with his cane in the Senate chamber because of a speech Sumner had made critical of slavery and its southern supporters.
Not the greatest guy to be affiliated with, but historical.
posted by Dave on 8-25-2010 at 10:27 am
One interesting town namesake story: Flagstaff, Arizona
If I remember correctly from a few years ago when I lived in the area: In the 1880s a group of prospectors in the area used a large pine as a flag pole for July 4th. Afterwards, the pole remained and the area around it came to be known as Flagstaff.
posted by indotexan on 8-25-2010 at 11:05 am
A little history about Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, NY.
Bay Ridge was originally known as Yellow Hook for the hue of the yellowish soil observed by the original Dutch settlers. This name was changed in 1853 after yellow fever struck the area and residents realized what an ill fit it was given the circumstances. The new name was given due to the proximity of the neighborhood to New York Bay, excellent views of which were visible from the ridge that has now become Ridge Boulevard.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Ridge#history
posted by Chris on 8-25-2010 at 11:21 am
Pittsburgh was named by General John Forbes in honor of then Prime Minister William Pitt. Legend has it that he named it in an attempt to gain favor with the man and get a promotion.
Interesting trivia: Since Forbes was a Scot, he most likely would have called the town “Pitts-burra” like Edinburgh, Scotland.
posted by Tedd on 8-25-2010 at 11:50 am
“Tallahassee” is a Muskogean (Creek-Seminole) word meaning “old fields”, because when the Creeks and Seminoles came to the region they found cleared land that had belonged to the Apalachee tribe before they relocated to Georgia and parts west.
posted by Donna on 8-25-2010 at 11:52 am
I’m with RickRoll, we need some Philadelphia up in here!
posted by Laura on 8-25-2010 at 1:21 pm
How about this one–Weslaco, TX. “W.E.Stewart Land Company”. Most of the towns around here are named for the owners of the ranches as well as names of their family members. McAllen,Donna,Elsa, Edcouch. North of here you run into the King Ranch, with towns such as Kingsville & Alice.
posted by Border Bonnie on 8-25-2010 at 2:41 pm
@janeeyre316….I only wish I was…..
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jun/30/bass-pro-shops-sign-lease-memphis-pyramid/
posted by stellar on 8-25-2010 at 7:45 pm
Flint, Michigan . . . named after the rock used to make arrowheads by local Indian tribes. Kind of boring compared to some of these other city names.
posted by Ron on 8-26-2010 at 11:23 am
One of the strangest stories I’ve heard is about how a small town named Mariah Hill in Spencer County Indiana got it’s name. The townspeople were originally all Catholics of German descent. They had petitioned the US Postal Service to open an office in the town. When completing the needed paperwork, they listed their town name – Mariah Hilf – (German for “Mary’s Help”) but the Postal Service somegot it jumbled into Mariah Hill, which has stuck ever since.
posted by JK1951 on 8-26-2010 at 12:43 pm
I live in the suburbs of Saint Paul (source of name obvious) in a burg that was oh-so creatively named after a city in California- Apple Valley. How boring can you get?
posted by eric! on 8-27-2010 at 3:03 am
Lived in Plano, TX. Named for how flat the land was. They thought Plano was the Spanish word for it, but whoever was naming didn’t speak Spanish at all.
posted by natalie on 8-29-2010 at 1:14 am
My older brother and sister-in-law live in Marquette, Michigan, I think it has something to do with a French marquisette, but I’m not sure. Greenville, Al used to be called Buttsville after some general from South Carolina, but how did they hit on Greenville?
posted by Sara in Al on 8-29-2010 at 2:06 pm
Shepherdstown, WV — originally named Mecklenburg, was renamed after Thomas Sheherd, the man who laid out the town of 50 acres from his orignal 222 acre land grant. Did you know that Shep’town was on the short list for our nations capitol?
posted by Lillian is a small and delicate flower on 8-30-2010 at 1:33 pm
1. One of my anthropology profs was fluent in Ojibwe, which is the native tongue of some of the tribes in Illinois/Wisconsin/Ohio. He told us that “Chicago” came from the Ojibwe word for “skunk” or “Big Stink”
2. The name Miami comes from the Native American tribe from Ohio – near Cincinnati and Dayton (Hence my alma mater Miami University in Oxford, OH). When the tribe was removed due to Jackson’s anti-native american policies, half went to Oklahoma, and the other half went to Florida. Later, when the railroads in Florida were being built, the chief investors were from Ohio and gave several cities Ohio names. Daytona is from Dayton OH and Hamilton Beach is from Hamilton OH.
3. The Society of Cincinnati was named after Cincinnatus, who was a farmer/Dictator who dropped his plow in the fields, lead the Romans to victory against an invading army, and immediately gave up power and went back to farming. He was an inspiration to the anti-tyrannical ideology of the early American Revolutionaries.
posted by liddgy on 8-30-2010 at 1:41 pm
Santa Fe, NM was named for St. Francis, and has been shortened over the years. The city’s official name is La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis, or The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi.
posted by Macho Business Donkey Wrestler on 8-31-2010 at 7:26 pm
Chattanooga,Tn. Chattanooga is Cherokee Indian for rock coming to a point (IE Lookout Mountain,which towers over Chattanooga).
posted by CCQUINN3 on 9-4-2010 at 1:03 pm
@ Sarah – The name of Watervliet is not bilingual, though it may seem so. Water is also the same word in Dutch and Flemish, like Waterloo (and the English cognate of that is “water lea”, a lea being a meadow).
& @ moggiemomma – New York was not named for the town of York in England. To inaugurate British rule in 1664-5 after they took over from the Dutch in Nieuw-Amsterdam, the city was re-named “New-York” to honour the King’s brother, the Duke of York (later James II). Around the same time, the Dutch town of Beverwyck (“beaver settlement”) received essentially the same Royal favour to become Albany, an old name for Scotland, owing to the fact that the Royal brothers were Stuarts, and the Duke’s fuller title was Duke of York and Albany.
posted by Quintus on 9-7-2010 at 10:51 pm
King of Prussia- Per Wikipedia (I leave near KOP and this is confirmed locally): The original inn was constructed initially as a cottage in 1719 by the Welsh Quakers William and Janet Rees, founders of nearby Reeseville. The cottage was converted to an inn 1769 and was important in colonial times as it was approximately a day’s travel by horse from Philadelphia. A number of settlers heading from there for Ohio would sleep at the inn for their first night on the road. In 1774 the Rees family hired James Barry (or Jimmy Berry) to run the inn, which henceforth became known as “Berry’s Tavern”. General George Washington first visited the tavern on Thanksgiving Day in 1777 while the Continental Army was encamped at Whitemarsh; a few weeks later Washington and the army bivouacked at nearby Valley Forge.
Parker’s spy map, created by a Tory sympathizer of the Kingdom of Great Britain, listed the inn as “Berry’s” in 1777, but a local petition in 1786 identified it as the “King of Prussia”. It was possibly renamed in honor of Benjamin Franklin’s pro-American satirical essay “An Edict by the King of Prussia”. At some point a wooden signboard of the inn depicted King Frederick the Great of Prussia. The inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Regarding Bird-in-Hand: Per Wikipedia: The legend of the naming of Bird-in-Hand concerns the time when the Old Philadelphia Pike was surveyed between Lancaster and Philadelphia. According to legend two road surveyors discussed whether they should stay at their present location or go on to the town of Lancaster. One of them supposedly said, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” which means it is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than the mere potential of a greater one; and so they stayed. By 1734, road surveyors were making McNabb’s hotel their headquarters rather than returning to Lancaster every day. The sign in front of the inn is known to have once “portrayed a man with a bird in his hand and a bush nearby, in which two birds were perched,” and was known as the Bird-in-Hand Inn. Variations of this sign appear throughout the town today.
posted by James on 9-13-2010 at 4:27 pm
Here’s an interesting one, and it ties into the Miami tribe. There is a town near my hometown called Maumee, and it’s also the name of the major river that flows through NW Ohio. When I was a kid, the story was that the name came from a Native American child who had fallen into the river and yelled “Maw-mee”! Of course, it’s actually just a deviation on Miami.
My hometown of Napoleon is named for the dictator dispite the fact that the vast majority of the founders were German. Another nearby town is Defiance, named after Fort Defiance built by General Mad Anthony Wayne (who also gave Ft Wayne, IN its name).
posted by Hilary on 9-13-2010 at 8:16 pm
Apparently, “Toronto” comes from the Ojibwa word for “trees in the water”. If you look out at the Toronto Islands, which sit low and level to Lake Ontario so that all you see are trees, not land, you’ll get what it means.
I would *love* to know the origins of the name of Dildo, Newfoundland…
posted by ChristieLea on 9-14-2010 at 10:37 pm
my hometown is called pocatalico, in west virginia just north of charleston. the story goes that a settler was trying to get his horse to cross the pocatalico river, but the horse wouldnt budge. finally an old indian saw what was happening and said…poke his tail he’ll go!
posted by jacob on 9-14-2010 at 11:21 pm
Colonial Heights, VA – In May 1781, Gen. Lafayette led Colonial troops in shelling British troops, who were across the Appomattox River in Petersburg, from “the heights” – a hilltop in what was then Chesterfield County. The area became known as “Colonial Heights” and took the name officially when it became an independent city in 1948.
Incidentally, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee made his headquarters in the same area for several months in 1864 during Union Gen. Grant’s siege of Petersburg.
@Bicycle Bill – here are others pronounced differently from the way you’d think, all in Virginia:
Staunton = STANton
Buena Vista = BYOONAH Vista
Botetourt = BAWtetawt
Fauquier = FawKEYear
@PartiallyDeflected – there’s a Frog Level, Va., too.
I’d like to know how Coeur d’Alene and Pocatello, Idaho, got their names.
My favorite town name to date is Sweet Chalybeate, in Alleghany Co., Va. It might refer to “healthful” waters or springs in the area. I think it’s pronounced Sweet KAYleebeet; please correct me if I’m wrong.
posted by donna on 9-16-2010 at 11:11 pm
Re: Atlanta
Did you know that the city too busy to hate was originally Thrasherville–hence the name of their hockey team? Or that Sherman burnt it not because it was the capital (I’m 99% sure it wasn’t at that time, but could be mistaken…), but because it was the main terminus of the railroad? In fact Atlanta was called Terminix for that very reason, well before being rebranded Atlanta.
posted by Brandy on 9-18-2010 at 1:42 am
Marietta, Ohio, the first settlement in the Northwest territory founded by George Washington was named after Marie Antoinette and was later invited to come live there. She turned down the offere, presumably because she liked the cake better in France.
posted by Wonder on 3-19-2011 at 10:30 am
Lake Winebago in Oshkosh Wi comes from the local Indian translation for Lake of Stinky Water. Just to the west of Lake Winnebago is Lake Butte de Morte, (pronounced beautimore) which roughly translates from French as Beautiful Death. It’s said a group of local Indians were chased off a cliff into the lake by French Settlers.
And as the story goes, which is probably less than true, the city of DePere, WI just south of Green Bay, was named because a settler getting out of his boat on the Fox river yelled back to his traveling companions, “Hey, it’s deep here.”
posted by Wonder on 3-19-2011 at 10:36 am
Indianapolis, IN, was originally going to be called Tecumseh, after the Shawnee chief. However, before the vote took place, someone came up with Indianapolis in homage to the history of the city and the state. It means “city of the land of the Indians.”
posted by Brett on 4-28-2011 at 10:12 am