Unimaginatively
Named Cities:
Alabama City, Alabama
Alabama Port, Alabama
Arizona City, Arizona
Arkansas City, Arkansas
California City, California
Colorado City, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Delaware City, Delaware
Florida City, Florida
Idaho City, Idaho
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Iowa Colony, Texas
Illinois City, Illinois
Illinois Colony, Texas
Indianapolis, Indiana
Iowa City, Iowa
Kansas City, Kansas
Maryland City, Maryland
Maryland Line, Maryland
Michigan Center, Michigan
Michigan City, Michigan
Minnesota City, Minnesota
Minnesota Lake, Minnesota
Mississippi City, Mississippi
Mississippi State, Mississippi
Missouri City, Missouri
Montana City, Montana
Nebraska City, Nebraska
Nevada, Iowa
Nevada City, California
Nevada City, Nevada
Jersey City, New Jersey
Mexico City, New Mexico
New York City, New York
Carolina City, North Carolina
Ohio City, Ohio
Ohio Colony, Texas
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oregon City, Oregon
Dakota City, South Dakota
Tennessee City, Tennessee
Tennessee Ridge, Tennessee
Texas City, Texas
Utah City, Utah
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia City, Virginia
Washington City, California
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Unimaginatively
Named Cities that are nonetheless kind of Imaginative:
Calexico, California
CalNevAri, Nevada
Kanorado, Kansas
Naco, Arizona
Norlina, North Carolina
SeaTac, Washington
Tennga, Georgia
Texarkana, Texas
Texico, New Mexico
Texico, Texas
Texhoma, Oklahoma
Texhoma, Texas
Cities Unimaginatively Named for OTHER states:
Arkansas City, Kansas
Arkansaw, Wisconsin
California, Kentucky
California, Maryland
California, Missouri
California, Pennsylvania
Colorado City, Arizona
Colorado City, Texas
Dakota City, Nebraska
Delaware, Arkansas
Delaware, Iowa
Delaware, Ohio
Delaware, Oklahoma
Florida, Massachusetts
Florida, New Mexico
Florida, New York
Florida, Ohio
Georgia Center, Vermont
Georgia City, Missouri
Hawaiian Gardens, California
Idaho Springs, Colorado
Indiana City, Pennsylvania
Iowa, Louisiana
Kansas, Alabama
Kansas, Illinois
Kansas, Ohio
Kansas, Oklahoma
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansasville, Wisconsin
Lousiana, Missouri
Maine, New York
Mainesburg, Pennsylvania
Maryland Heights, Missouri
Michigan, North Dakota
Michigan City, Indiana
Michigan City, Mississippi
Michigantown, Indiana
Missouri City, Texas
Missouri Valley, Iowa
Montana, Arkansas
Nebraska, Indiana
Nevada, Iowa
Nevada, Missouri
Nevada, Ohio
Nevada City, California
Nevada Mills, Indiana
New York Mills, Minnesota
Ohio, Colorado
Ohio, Illinois
Ohio, New York
Ohiopyle, Pennyslvania
Ohioville, Pennsylvania
Ohiowa, Nebraska
Oregon, Illinois
Oregon, Missouri
Oregon, Ohio
Oregon, Wisconsin
Tennessee, Illinois
Texhole, Texas
Vermont, Illinois
Vermontville, Michigan
Vermont City, South Dakota
Virginia, Alabama
Virginia, Illinois
Virginia, Minnesota
Virginia, Nebraska
Virginia City, Montana
Virginia City, Nevada
Washington, Arkansas
Washington, Connecticut
Washington, Georgia
Washington, Illinois
Washington, Indiana
Washington, Iowa
Washington, Kansas
Washington, Kentucky
Washington, Lousiana
Washington, Massachusetts
Washington, Mississippi
Washington, Missouri
Washington, Nebraska
Washington, New Hamsphire
Washington, New Jersey
Washington, North Carolina
Washington, Oklahoma
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington, Tennessee
Washington, Utah
Washington, Vermont
Washington, Virginia
Washington, West Virginia
Washington City, Utah
Washington Court House, Ohio
Washington Crossing, New Jersey
Washington Depot, Connecticut
Washington Park, Florida
Washington Park, Illinois
Washington Terrace, Utah
Washington Township, New Jersey
Washingtonville, Pennsylvania
Wyoming, Delaware
Wyoming, Illinois
Wyoming, Iowa
Wyoming, Michigan
Wyoming, Minnesota
Wyoming, New York
Wyoming, Ohio
Wyoming, Pennsylvania
Wyoming, Rhode Island
States seemingly, remarkably, free of Unimaginatively Named Cities (as defined):
Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Wyoming
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The Site of Unimaginative City Names:
Iowa City, Iowa
Who is to blame
From: Marne G.
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004
Here’s some info I’ve found on who’s to blame for unimaginatively named Iowa City, Iowa. This comes from the Encyclopedia of Iowa, pp. 226-27.
"Iowa City was founded as the capital of the Territory of Iowa. The founding act, approved by the first Legislative Assembly in Burlington (January 21, 1839), provided that three appointed commissioners select the most suitable 640 acres in Johnson County, employ surveyors and laborers to lay out the town, and supervise the plans and erection of the capitol, stipulating that the commissioners meet no later than May 1. [...]
Settlers flocked to Napoleon, Johnson County seat, on May 1, 1839 to wait for the three commissioners, one from each judicial district, who were to meet there and select the capital site. Excitement ran high when noon came and only Chauncey Swan had arrived, as two commissioners had to be present to make the action legal. [...] Commisioner Swan sent a volunteer, Philip Clark, to bring John Ronalds of Louisa County, the nearest absent commissioner, to Napoleon before midnight. Ronalds lived only 35 miles away, but the distance was great in those days of prairie trails and bridgeless streams, and few believed he could arrive in time, but at 5 minutes to 12, by Swan’s watch, he was there.
The justice of the peace swore the two men into office immediately so that the papers could be dated May 1. Observant persons noted, however, that the hours from midnight until sunrise were remarkably short. Swan and Ronalds selected a wild valley sloping up to one of the hilltops overlooking the Iowa River as the site and named it Iowa City."
So as this story seems to suggest, Chauncey Swan and John Ronalds were so unimaginative because they were pressed for time and sleep-deprived. The fact that they were working under cover of darkness might also explain why they chose such an amazingly hilly site, a fact I curse each day while walking to work.
Marne G.
Imaginative Resident of Unimaginative Iowa City
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