Cities that aren't

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Cathedral City, CA – No cathedrals there. It is, however, a city.
Dildo, NL, Canada – No dildos there AFAIK.
Fucking, Austria – Self-explanatory.

I still have to check if there are singing roosters in Gallocanta, Spain.

And once again I raise South Waverly PA, which is way Northwest of Waverly PA... but just South of Waverly NY.

In Utah:
-South Jordan is west of the Jordan River, not south of it

Is not South Jordan South of West Jordan, which is West of the Jordan River? Then it would make sense. I once mistook West Jordan for the West Bank in the Middle East.

[Scott5114]

Midwest City, OK

Bzzt. Midwest City was named for the Midwest Air Depot, the original name of Tinker Air Force Base, so the U.S. government apparently considered Central Oklahoma to be part of the Midwest at one point.

[Beltway]

Tell City, IN
Elizabeth City, NC

[1995hoo]

Many people consider each of NYC's five boroughs to be cities in themselves.   As each borough are like their own municipality (and each one in itself is several times larger than most American cities) many just treat them as five completely different cities even though all part of the Great New York.

Of course, Brooklyn was an independent city until 1898.

[wxfree]

Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island.

Of course, "Rhode Island" isn't "Rhode Island". Official state name is "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". Smallest state, biggest name.

In 2010 there was a failed attempt at a constitutional amendment to change the name to "State of Rhode Island."  The No vote won with 78%.  I would have voted to approve it, but I can understand why people are reluctant to change something as foundational as the name of a state, even a name almost no one knows.

[hbelkins]

Any incorporated place in Kentucky is known as a city, so there are no incorporated towns, such as Clay City, which "aren't." It's always interesting to see references to the City of Clay City, which is just down the road from the City of Stanton. But the governmental bodies are frequently referred to as the Stanton City Council, but the Clay City Council and not the Clay City City Council.

But there are a number of "wide spots in the road" communities with City in their name. I'm familiar with Island City (Owsley County), Sublimity City (Laurel County), Grange City (Fleming County) and Cannel City (Morgan County.)

[oscar]

Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island.

Of course, "Rhode Island" isn't "Rhode Island". Official state name is "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". Smallest state, biggest name.

In 2010 there was a failed attempt at a constitutional amendment to change the name to "State of Rhode Island."  The No vote won with 78%.  I would have voted to approve it, but I can understand why people are reluctant to change something as foundational as the name of a state, even a name almost no one knows.

The long name for the state of Rhode Island stuck in my mind because long ago I was working on a project with the state attorney general's office. We felt compelled to include "and Providence Plantations" in the state name, in all our correspondence with attorneys in the office. Copy and paste came in handy for that.

[SSOWorld]

WI:
Genoa City - a village
Junction City - also a village
Marathon City - I guess to distinguish from the county - but still a village.  Marathon, Marathon, WI
Pleasant Prairie - I don't see prairies there.
Wrightstown....

[Takumi]

Off the top of my head, Gate City and Chase City are two Virginia communities that are legally towns.

[7/8]

Holiday City, OH on I-80/90 is a village of 52 surrounded by farm fields (not exactly a holiday destination)

[roadman65]

Campbell City in Florida is unincorporated in Osceola County.

Baseball City was the area around the interchange of I-4 and US 27 near Disney.  Now since the Royals Stadium was leveled in favor of retail centers, its not called that anymore but just another unincorporated part of Davenport, a nearby incorporated city.

[bulldog1979]

Holiday City, OH on I-80/90 is a village of 52 surrounded by farm fields (not exactly a holiday destination)

Holiday City was incorporated as a village by the family who owned a hotel there. At the time of incorporation, the hotel was flagged as a Holiday Inn, so the village was named for the hotel, thus Holiday City. When I worked there, it was a Ramada, and now it's a Quality Inn. Bonus fun factoid: there is a pond behind the hotel that is named Ramada Lake.

[bulldog1979]

Oil City, Michigan (between Mt. Pleasant and Midland)
Barton City, Michigan (Alcona County)
Beal City, Michigan (Isabella County)

Also Mackinaw City, a village in Emmet and Cheboygan counties.

[GaryV]

Oil City, Michigan (between Mt. Pleasant and Midland)
Barton City, Michigan (Alcona County)
Beal City, Michigan (Isabella County)

Mt. Pleasant is hardly any kind of high spot ...

And another "pleasant" place -
As I understand it, Pleasant Ridge got it's name because it is part of the watershed divide between streams that flow toward the east or toward the south.  But you can hardly see any change of elevation.

[Bruce]

Columbia City, Seattle: Neither a city or anywhere near the Columbia River.

[Rothman]

Columbia City, Seattle: Neither a city or anywhere near the Columbia River.

Washington was originally going to be called Columbia.

[Desert Man]

Cherokee, OK isn't in Cherokee county, OK which itself is the HQ of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma while Cherokee the town itself was part of the nation's strip in the 1830s-80s.

[US 89]

Columbia City, Seattle: Neither a city or anywhere near the Columbia River.

Washington was originally going to be called Columbia.

And it was changed because the Columbia name could potentially get confused with the District of Columbia. Ironically, they changed it to Washington, which I think has much more confusion associated with it than Columbia would.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Columbia City, Seattle: Neither a city or anywhere near the Columbia River.

Washington was originally going to be called Columbia.

Which may explain why the Canadian province to the North of it is named British Columbia... which in turn is no longer British .

[OracleUsr]

North, SC (in the middle of the state)
Beach, ND (really??)

[hotdogPi]

North, SC (in the middle of the state)

That reminds me: West, Texas. Even "better" because West Texas is a term used in common speech.

[OracleUsr]

Then there's Due West, SC, which is not anywhere near the westernmost town in the state (though I guess Westminster is aptly named)

[abefroman329]

Many people consider each of NYC's five boroughs to be cities in themselves.   As each borough are like their own municipality (and each one in itself is several times larger than most American cities) many just treat them as five completely different cities even though all part of the Great New York.

Of course, it gets more complicated once the Post Office gets involved.  Addresses in the Bronx are addressed "Bronx, NY."  Addresses in Brooklyn are addressed "Brooklyn, NY."  Addresses on Staten Island are addressed "Staten Island, NY."  With me so far?  Addresses in Manhattan are addressed "New York, NY" and addresses in Queens are addressed "[neighborhood in Queens], NY" (such as Astoria, NY or Kew Gardens, NY).

[jeffandnicole]

Many people consider each of NYC's five boroughs to be cities in themselves.   As each borough are like their own municipality (and each one in itself is several times larger than most American cities) many just treat them as five completely different cities even though all part of the Great New York.

Of course, it gets more complicated once the Post Office gets involved.  Addresses in the Bronx are addressed "Bronx, NY."  Addresses in Brooklyn are addressed "Brooklyn, NY."  Addresses on Staten Island are addressed "Staten Island, NY."  With me so far?  Addresses in Manhattan are addressed "New York, NY" and addresses in Queens are addressed "[neighborhood in Queens], NY" (such as Astoria, NY or Kew Gardens, NY).

As long as the ZIP is correct, you could skip the city entirely.

My area is served by a ZIP code that can have up to 10 different town or sections of towns on it, and I just happen to be in a suburban town that doesn't have an all-encompassing Post Office of its own (We have a post office in town, but it serves just a small area of the town).  No matter what the junk mailer puts on it, it still gets to me though.

[SP Cook]

I guess I can do West Virginia.

Barrackville.  Named for a guy named Barrack, never was a military barracks. 

Berkeley Springs.  Is the county seat of Morgan County, which was split off from now neighboring Berkeley County 200 years ago. 

Bridgeport.  Has neither a significant bridge nor port.

Bruceton Mills.  Never the site of a mill belonging to someone named Bruceton. 

East Bank.  No bank in the financial sense there.  It is on the east bank (side) of the river.

Four States.  Not one of those "you can see four states from here" not even very near any border.  Founder owned coal mines in four states.

Gallipolis Ferry.  Ferry to Gallipolis, Ohio ended a century ago.

Glen, Glen Dale, Glen Daniel, Glen Easton, Glen Ferris, Glen Fork, Glen Jean, Glen Rogers, Glenferris, Glendon, Glenhayes, Glenville and Glenhayes, were all named by Scottish or Scots-Irish immigrants and none are in a glen.

Green Bank.  See East Bank, above.

Harper's Ferry.  Harper was only one of several ferries in that area, all long gone.

Hurricane.  Area surveyed by George Washington's men, all from the coast, who saw the aftermath of a tornado, which was an unknown thing to them and they assumed it to have been a hurricane. 

Institute.  Home of the WV Colored Institute, which was changed to "state college" 90 years ago.

Kenova.  Conflation of Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia.  Never changed the name after 1863.  Western most point in Kenova, and thus the state, is Virginia Point.  Which the main industry there is the Kanawha River Terminals Company.  Which Kenova is the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy, the Kanawha is 70 miles away.

Mineral Wells.  No mineral wells there.

Mineral County.  In a state rich with coal, it produces none.

Paden City.  Population 2600.  Technically a town.

Scott Depot.  So named for a long forgotten train station for the town of Winfield, both named for Winfield Scott.

Spanishburg.  That odd mix of Spanish and German was named for settler Spanish Brown, who was Scots.  No record of Spanish settlement.

Teays.  A post office with no residents (the town was removed to build I-64, the post office is in a strip mall for boxes only) it gives its name to the region, the "Teays Valley".  The Teays river was name given to a theoretical river from the ice age in a dissertation.  There is no Teays river.

Tridelphia.  Population 209, technically a town.

Webster Springs.  Actually the mineral water is from a well, a failed hotel venture just things calling it a "spring" sounded better.

Winding Gulf.  Another meaning for "gulf" is ravine.