Category Archives: place names

The First Great Hub of the Northern Plains

Posted on May 12, 2019 by

Frontier Towns, Part 6: Fort Laramie, Wyoming Don’t confuse Fort Laramie with the much larger university city of Laramie – they are 105 miles and world’s apart. Fort Laramie is a small Northern Plains town of approximately 230 residents located … Continue reading →

Posted in cities, commerce, culture, geography, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, Maps, Native Americans, place names, planning, topography, tourism, Trade, trails, transportation, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cities/Towns Named for Native American Indian Chiefs

Posted on April 25, 2019 by

The following list of cities, towns, villages, hamlets, and unincorporated communities that were named for Native American Indian Chiefs. Several ghost towns are also included. This list includes translation-corrupted names, Anglicized names, as well as native names for chiefs. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Cities, civics, culture, geography, history, humanity, inclusiveness, Language, Maps, Native Americans, place names, Statistics, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Town that was Born Through a Scam!

Posted on April 9, 2019 by

Frontier Towns, Chapter 3: Boise City, Oklahoma We’ve all probably heard the urban legends of people buying swamp land in Florida from a con artist, but it’s a rare occurrence to learn of an entire town being founded on a … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, cities, civics, commerce, Communications, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, marketing, place names, planning, politics, spatial design | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Old West Personified in a Town’s Iconic Name

Posted on March 21, 2019 by

Frontier Towns, Chapter 2: Pecos, Texas Few names portray a better image of the Old West than “Pecos.” The Pecos River is the natural dividing line between central and western Texas, as to the west of this iconic river the … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, books, branding, cartoons, cities, civics, commerce, culture, deserts, downtown, economic development, environment, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, Maps, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, recreation, spatial design, topography, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ominous Sounding Frontier Town Names

Posted on March 19, 2019 by

As part of our Frontier Towns series, the following list of town names might make you want to think twice before moving there or living there. Some of the names are famous, while others are infamous. All of them are … Continue reading →

Posted in branding, cities, geography, Maps, Mining, place names, placemaking, tourism, Travel | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Town That Was Moved Four Times!

Posted on March 13, 2019 by

The first of our new “Frontier Towns” series is about the historic Great Plains town of Julesburg, Colorado. At the crossroads of multiple important and historic transcontinental routes lies the quaint Great Plains town of Julesburg, Colorado. This classic western … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, architecture, bicycling, Biking, branding, cities, civics, commerce, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, environment, film, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, Maps, movies, nature, Passenger rail, place names, placemaking, planning, rail, Railroads, recreation, rivers/watersheds, signs, Small business, sustainability, theaters, topography, tourism, Trade, trails, transportation, Travel, urban planning, Welcome | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Descriptive Detail of Inuit Town Names

Posted on December 18, 2018 by

As Inuit town names are being reestablished in the Arctic regions of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland, this author has found them to often be much more interesting and descriptive than the former English or Danish (in Greenland) names. Too often, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arctic, Canada, cities, civics, culture, diversity, environment, Europe, geography, land use, Language, North America, place names, placemaking, planning, topography, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Instrumental” Towns

Posted on October 29, 2018 by

A little fun for the start of the work week with city/town names that include the name of an instrument in their name. If you know of others we missed, please feel free to pass them along for inclusion. Bass, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cities, fun, geography, Language, Music, place names | Leave a comment

Ten Best and Worst City/Town Slogans

Posted on August 14, 2018 by

Here’s a fun list of the ten (10) best and ten (10) worst city or town slogans from across the United States. If you think there are better or worse ones, please send them along and we will judge them … Continue reading →

Posted in branding, business, cities, civics, Communications, fun, history, marketing, place names, placemaking, psychology, Social media, tourism, Travel, Welcome | Tagged | 1 Comment

Playing “Boggle” With City Names Inside City Names

Posted on August 10, 2018 by

Taking a page from Peggy Hill’s championship playbook for the classic word game “Boggle,” the following list identifies those cities or towns whose name contains the names of other cities and towns. A minimum of three (3) other city or … Continue reading →

Posted in cities, civics, Communications, fun, geography, Language, place names, placemaking, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment