The Carnation City
Alliance is commonly referred to as the Carnation City, having been given that designation by the Ohio General Assembly in 1959. Alliance gave Ohio its official state flower, the scarlet carnation. Alliance's association with the carnation began in 1866 when an Alliance doctor, Levi L. Lamborn, purchased six potted carnation plants to grow in a greenhouse at his house. At that time this flower was rarely cultivated in the United States. In 1876 Lamborn ran against William McKinley for the Congressional seat from this district. The two men were personal friends, although they were political opponents. McKinley had expressed his admiration for Lamborn's carnations, so before each of their political debates Lamborn gave McKinley a carnation to wear on his lapel. Mr. McKinley won the election and associated the carnation with his success, and wore carnations during his successful campaigns for Governor of Ohio and then President of the United States.
In 1884 Lamborn suggested that Ohio should make the carnation a state emblem. In 1904, three years after President McKinley's assassination, the Ohio General Assembly designated the scarlet carnation as the official state flower as a "token of love and reverence to the memory of William McKinley". On 29 January of each year (President McKinley's birth anniversary), a bouquet of red carnations is placed in the hands of McKinley's statue at the Capitol in Columbus.
Every year since 1960 Alliance has held a Carnation Festival during August.
Read more about this topic: Alliance, Ohio
Famous quotes containing the word city:
“O City city, I can sometimes hear
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The pleasant whining of a mandolin
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Where fishmen lounge at noon.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)