How 10,000 American Cities Got Their Names
As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, many Americans are curious about their hometown history. Some answers can be found in a federal report more than a century old, when the U.S. government cataloged its towns and cities and described the origins of some 10,000 names.
The herculean effort, by famed geographer Henry Gannett of the U.S. Geological Survey, sheds light on America’s past. First published in 1902, then updated in 1905, the report reveals the country’s linguistic history spanning colonization, independence and westward expansion.
The Wall Street Journal analyzed the project’s 334 pages and mapped places that had a population of more than 5,000 people in 2020. Since the report’s release, some historians have uncovered other origin stories for American towns. Still, Gannett’s ambitious, sprawling survey shows the broad strokes of American history.
