Unusual Name Changes
- Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, changed from the name "Hot Springs" in 1950 when Truth or Consequences host Ralph Edwards announced that he would do the show from the first town that renamed itself after the popular radio program.
- Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, formerly Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk, negotiated a deal with the heirs of athlete Jim Thorpe to become the site of his tomb in a bid to increase tourism.
- Ismay, Montana, unofficially took the name of "Joe, Montana", after the NFL quarterback Joe Montana, as part of a 1993 publicity stunt
- Clark, Texas, renamed itself "DISH" after the EchoStar Communications' Dish Network – all 55 households in the town are given free satellite television for 10 years
- Buffalo, Texas, temporarily renamed itself "Blue Star, Texas" in 1993 and 1994 when the Dallas Cowboys faced the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl, and later renamed itself "Green Star, Texas" in 1999 when the Dallas Stars faced the Buffalo Sabres in the Stanley Cup Finals (Buffalo is approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Dallas; in all three instances the supportive name change proved successful for the Dallas-area team)
- Halfway, Oregon, became the first place to accept the money from a dot-com to change its name to match the web site "Half.com"
- Santa, Idaho, a hamlet with a population of 115 became "secretsanta.com" on 9 December 2005
- Pippa Passes, Kentucky, originally Caney Creek but renamed after the Robert Browning poem Pippa Passes through the influence of Alice Spencer Geddes Lloyd, founder of Alice Lloyd College.
- Washington, Pennsylvania, temporarily renamed itself "Steeler" when the Pittsburgh Steelers made it to the Super Bowl in 2006.
- Eastpointe, Michigan, incorporated as the village of Halfway in December 1924 and reincorporated as the City of East Detroit in January 1929. The city changed its name to "Eastpointe" after a vote in 1992; the name change had been proposed to reduce its association with the adjacent city of Detroit (a move that offended many Detroit residents), and the "-pointe" is intended to associate the city with the exclusive communities of the Grosse Pointes. However, the school district that serves most of the city was unaffected by the municipal name change and still uses the name East Detroit Public Schools, with the local high school being East Detroit High School.
- Sleepy Hollow, New York, renamed from North Tarrytown in 1997 in honor of the Washington Irving short story.
- On June 4–9 of each year, Dublin, Texas changes its name (and even its road signs) to Dr Pepper, Texas, to commemorate the anniversary of the first Dr Pepper Bottling Plant, which is located there.
- The Chilean Robinson Crusoe Island, renamed from "Más a Tierra" in 1966.
- The Spanish village Asquerosa (in Spanish, 'filthy') was renamed as Valderrubio (Pinos Puente municipality) in 1943.
- Topeka, Kansas, renamed itself Google, Kansas for the month of March 2010.
- Richland, New Jersey briefly renamed itself "Mohito" in 2004 at the behest of the Bacardi company in honor of the mint grown at Delponte Farms, an essential ingredient in the drink.
Read more about this topic: Geographical Renaming
Famous quotes containing the word unusual:
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