Why do American towns use the same names as other foreign towns?

[diplomatic_lies]

I just realised, doesn't it seem weird half the American towns have the same names as foreign cities? You guys running out of names or something?

Some US towns:

St Petersburgh (Russia)
Melbourne (Australia)
King of Prussia (it's near Amish country, which explains it)
Kew (England)
Maximillian (Austria?)
Kolberg (Germany)
Gorky (Russia?)

 

[al77]

Lack of creativity?
Probably every state in US has a small town named London...

 

[Coolage]

Because that's where the people who founded it are from?

 

[Deep Dish]

You forgot Baghdad, Arizona.

 

[Jake-inator]

What about Gaylord michigan? :crackup:

Yup its a real city... http://www.gaylord-mich.com/

I wonder where they got that name?

 

[penkitten]

well why are the names of streets so lame?

blue lick rd
lickskillet rd
chilicoop rd.

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

There is a town in Michigan called Hell, too.

And yes, sometimes it freezes over.

http://www.broncofix.com/albums/Drw/hell_freeze_sign.jpg

 

[whistler]

The best is when we use foreign names but then mispronounce them...

e.g., two of my favorites:


Milan -- pronounced "my-lin" -- in New York

Versailles -- pronounced "ver-sails" -- in Ohio


Ahh, my ignorant countrymen... :crackup:

 

[penkitten]

Originally posted by whistler
The best is when we use foreign names but then mispronounce them...

e.g., two of my favorites:


Milan -- pronounced "my-lin" -- in New York

Versailles -- pronounced "ver-sails" -- in Ohio


Ahh, my ignorant countrymen... :crackup:

theres a Versailles in ky

 

[whistler]

Originally posted by penkitten
theres a Versailles in ky

LOL

pronounced the same?

 

[penkitten]

Originally posted by whistler
LOL

pronounced the same?

ver sells

 

[The Bartender]

Originally posted by Giovanni Casanova
There is a town in Michigan called Hell, too.

And yes, sometimes it freezes over.

http://www.broncofix.com/albums/Drw/hell_freeze_sign.jpg

I used to live about 3 mins from that sign and remember the day it froze over. :crazy:

 

[diplomatic_lies]

I have no idea what democrats and tyants have to do with towns with weird names, so here's back to the topic.


I'm not sure about that comment, about towns being named after their settlers. Would it mean St Petersburgh (near Alabama) was settled by the Russians? I can't really recall any massive Russian colonialism to Alabama...

I love the phrase from the Gaylord town site:

Gaylord Has It All!

Yes, it does....

 

[DrMetallica]

American towns/rivers/streets take on a lot of the former indian places for those names. California has a lot of spanish names for places, like for example a devolpment of condominiums called "El Peurto Azul" , "Beuna Vista" or "Agua Dulce Developments", names that would really make you laugh if you speak spanish but whatever they sound good. Oh, and there are some really weird names of Arizona towns. Actually my favorite drunken pastime when driving (I'm not the driver of course, just the drunk) is to navigate how far away Why, Arizona is or some other poor desert town like Sells, Arizona.

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Originally posted by diplomatic_lies
I love the phrase from the Gaylord town site:

Gaylord Has It All!

Yes, it does....

I've been there, and they don't have sh*t.

It's actually a semi-major town in the Northern part of the lower peninsula.

 

[K Street]

I'm from MA, so nearly all of our cities and town are named after English cities where the original settlers came from. Boston, Worcester, and Plymouth are some examples.

As far as St. Petersburg, AL, maybe the settlers named it after St. Peter? Just a random thought.

 

[Jay-X]

Originally posted by K Street
I'm from MA, so nearly all of our cities and town are named after English cities where the original settlers came from. Boston, Worcester, and Plymouth are some examples.

As far as St. Petersburg, AL, maybe the settlers named it after St. Peter? Just a random thought.

actually it means "saint peter's town", so it's obviously the cause, mostly since in russian language it isn't spelled "saint petersburg", so it wouldn't make sense the idea that it was named so by some russian

 

[Not Quite There]

not just in north america, but many australian and new zealand towns are named after british towns.

I sometimes wonder though if your average american realises that places like 'new' york are named after ancient british towns.

its funny, york and new york couldnt be more differen't.

 

[DrMetallica]

I live in Chatsworth, California, in a suburb of Los Angeles. The main street that runs through here is called "Devonshire"

The Chatsworth House is a famous place in England in Derbyshire and Devonshire is a county.

 

[Joe The Homophobe]

Originally posted by Giovanni Casanova
There is a town in Michigan called Hell, too.

atheists say hell don't exist, but it actually does and is right there in Michigan

its called detroit..