Many cities like West Palm Beach, FL are given its name with the direction at first because it is in the direction from the city name that follows. However, I have encountered some that are starting with N-S-E-W that are not in any direction of the city name it implies that it is.
Communities such as:
- West Milford, NJ
- North Bergen, NJ
- South Boston, VA
- South Newport, GA
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None of these have suggested companions of any sort. West Milford, NJ is not west of Milford, NJ nor is there an East Milford either. North Bergen, NJ in fact is SE of the County of the same name, but there is no municipality south of North Bergen named Bergen nor South Bergen.
South Boston, VA might be named cause of the City of Boston in Massachusetts and South Newport in Georgia I have no clue of why its named as such.
How many other types of cities are like this?
You can't take everything at face value.
New Jersey has undergone municipal upheaval over the years on a level rarely seen anywhere.
"Bergen" is an ancient New Netherlandish place name referring to the area between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers (and particularly the latter's outlet, Newark Bay). The term "Bergen Peninsula" or "Bergen Neck" is still heard referring to the area covered by Jersey City and Bayonne. This was the initial settlement of Bergen County, in fact, which initially included all the area between the aforementioned rivers south from New York.
This area contained a municipality called Bergen Township from Dutch times into the 19th century, after the area had split off to become Hudson County, and up until the massive wave of municipal disintegrations/secessions the state experienced in that era.
So North Bergen, you see, is indeed north of the former Bergen Township and the area historically known as Bergen.
(Other evidence of this name in that area are the Bergen Arches, a railroad cut across Jersey City, the Bergen Viaduct which we all know as NJ 495, and Bergen Hill, a Jerseyan term for the rise up the back of the Palisades.)
In a nutshell.
West Milford's story (westernmost of two New Milfords) is explained on its Wikipedia page.
In Nebraska, both North Bend and South Bend are located at points where the Platte River bends in the given direction. I've also read that West Point got its name because they thought it would be the farthest west point of settlement. And North Platte is on the North Platte River, as well as North Loup being on the North Loup River.
South Bend, Indiana - South bend of the St Joseph River.
West Frankfort, Illinois - There is a Frankfort, but it is far to the north and has no relation to West Frankfort (which may refer to Frankfort, Kentucky).
East Dundee and West Dundee, Illinois - There is no Dundee, these are on opposite sides of the Fox River from each other.
WV:
East Bank (bank is an old term for coal deposit, it being east of the then being mined coal)
Northfork (on north fork of Elkhorn Creek)
North Hills (in the hills north of Parkersburg)
West Liberty (no idea, but there is no Liberty)
There is a North Liberty in St. Joseph County, IN, with no Liberty nearby.
Westward Ho!, England. Yes, with '!'.
Now seriously, I believe there is a South Waverly PA which is actually Northeast of Waverly PA... but just South of Waverly NY.
Or how about when the towns drop a name, making it a case of some names making sense, but having missing cardinal directions.
In Burlington County NJ we have
1: Mt Holly (Former Northampton)
2: Westampton Township
3:Southampton Township
4: Eastampton Township
all 4 touch and have direct relations.
Mount Holly had the name change done in 1931 as the result of voting.
East Liverpool, OH
West Bend, WI
West Allis, WI
Interestingly, West Trenton refers to a small community northwest of Trenton itself in Ewing Township. What's interesting is that other wards in the city with directions, such as North Trenton, South Trenton, and East Trenton are actually in the city itself. From what I know, the west side of Trenton is referred to as the West Ward because referring to it as West Trenton would confuse people who live in the Ewing community and not in the west side of Trenton.
I thought North Brunswick followed this rule as well, seeing as it's actually south of New Brunswick, but I remember learning it was named after South Brunswick was established, and, while they were named after New Brunswick, the North is in relation to South Brunswick and not New Brunswick.
There is a Boston, VA about nine miles northwest of Culpepper, VA.
iPhone
West Liberty, Ky., is actually located quite a bit to the east (and north) of Liberty, Ky.
South Gate (in suburban Los Angeles) might be the one California example I can think of.
There's also a North Fair Oaks unincorporated community in the Bay Area, a reference to a city that used to be called "Fair Oaks" but is now Atherton. (The current community known as Fair Oaks is located over in Sacramento County)
Quote from: Big John on September 04, 2014, 10:14:34 AM
East Liverpool, OH
West Bend, WI
West Allis, WI
West Allis, WI is in reference to the old Allis-Chalmers plant. The original settlement of the community was west of the Allis-Chalmers plant.
Quote from: tchafe1978 on September 04, 2014, 12:38:27 PM
West Allis, WI is in reference to the old Allis-Chalmers plant. The original settlement of the community was west of the Allis-Chalmers plant.
I always wondered if it had something to do with the A-C plant.
Quote from: Big John on September 04, 2014, 10:14:34 AM
East Liverpool, OH
West Bend, WI
West Allis, WI
West Bend is the western-most bend in the Milwaukee River
North Bend, OR (which is south of, and even farther west of Bend, OR)
South Bend, WA
North Bend, WA
Without looking it up, they probably all have to do with bends in the rivers. At least the two in Washington aren't contradictory directionally, but they're nowhere near each other. I heard a story from my Dad who works at a hotel in Bend of a group of people from the east coast trying to get to Bend, OR, and booking flights to North Bend, OR (as in, the city adjacent to Coos Bay) and driving all the way to Bend, instead of flying into Redmond (closest, and coincidentally North of Bend) or even Portland (closer than North Bend, and usually cheaper to fly to). I can see how that could happen, because there's no commercial airport in Bend (it's in Redmond), but people have to be pretty stupid to book flights before you know for sure.
There's North English and South English, IA are both named for the English River.
West Liberty, IA, according to Wikipedia, is named after West Liberty, Ohio, but I couldn't find a reason.
North Liberty, IA, was once called North Bend after the nearby bend in the Iowa River. There is no Liberty in Iowa, and West Liberty is about 20 miles southeast of North Liberty,
There's a North Manchester in Indiana, which is a great deal north of the unincorporated Manchester, IN. I'm pretty sure they're unrelated, but I don't know the history behind North Manchester.
North Judson, IN, was named after a railroader. The North was added to avoid confusion with Judson, IN in the southern part of the state.
West Saint Paul, MN (named for the west bank of the Mississippi river, is immediately south of Saint Paul).
North Branch, MN (annexed the city of Branch).
South Haven, MN (south of 'Fair'haven).
North Platte, NE (no town named Platte)
West Yellowstone, MT (no town named Yellowstone :bigass: )
Quote from: roadman65 on September 04, 2014, 01:40:21 AM
- West Milford, NJ
- South Boston, VA
- South Newport, GA
all of (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/West+Milford,+NJ/Milford,+CT/@40.9911514,-74.297833,151915m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c31828416d15cb:0xbef09169a8cc5a4f!2m2!1d-74.3673254!2d41.1311292!1m5!1m1!1s0x89e87460a6f831db:0x40f9029978d74083!2m2!1d-73.064036!2d41.2306979) these are (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Boston,+MA/South+Boston,+VA/@39.5347399,-79.5103857,1241774m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x89e3652d0d3d311b:0x787cbf240162e8a0!2m2!1d-71.0597732!2d42.3584308!1m5!1m1!1s0x89ad6389299e76d9:0xa8be56d99cbb3f2!2m2!1d-78.9013987!2d36.6987493) technically correct. (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Newport,+TN/South+Newport,+GA/@33.8767248,-83.7109903,669273m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x885bc5d6831ff5eb:0x2642886242c286a4!2m2!1d-83.1876578!2d35.9670412!1m5!1m1!1s0x88fb23bd5d49fe7d:0x9e10025d7bd07d53!2m2!1d-81.3962153!2d31.6349407) :bigass:
West Lafayette, OH immediately comes to mind.
North East, MD
Mapmikey
In Ohio, there are three in the Dayton area:
- West Alexandria
- West Carrollton
- West Milton
In the Cleveland area
- North Bloomfield
- North Olmsted
In the Toledo area
Some of these places have non-cardinal-direction counterparts, but in different parts of the state. There's also an East Palestine (hmm) out near Youngstown.
One curiosity that has always stood out in Ohio is the city of "Upper Sandusky". Not a cardinal direction per se, but we tend to think of "up" as north when looking at a map. But actually, Upper Sandusky is some 60 miles southwest of it's un-adjectived namesake on Lake Erie. The name comes from it's "upper" position on the Sandusky River, which empties into the bay of the same name next to the city of Sandusky. I suspect this has caused untold confusion (The fact that "regular" Sandusky is well-known as home to one of the largest amusement parks in the country if not the world, doesn't help matters.)
Connecticut has one example of this: the town of East Hampton is decidedly west and south of the town of Hampton.
This is especially odd when you consider that Hampton has had that name as long as it has existed (1786) but East Hampton was known as Chatham prior to 1915.
How about North East, Pa.? It is probably near the northernmost point in Pennsylvania, but about the only thing it's east of is Erie.
Also in California: North Highlands, outside of Sacramento.
We also have these two in the Chicago area:
Northlake - named for its location where North Avenue (IL-64) and Lake Street (US-20) cross.
South Holland - named for South Holland, Netherlands.
A pair from Washington state:
North Bend - named for a bend in the Snoqualmie River
South Bend - named for a bend in the Willapa River; located 110 miles (straightline distance) west of North Bend
North Branch, MI is considerably to the south and east of West Branch. Although I would surmise that both places were named for being on a branch of a river or creek.
South Haven is a ways south of Grand Haven. Grand Haven is named after the Grand River; I suppose South Haven could have been called Kalamazoo Haven.
There's West, TX which is actually in central Texas north of Waco nowhere near west Texas.
West Pymble, NSW is actually south of Pymble.
http://goo.gl/maps/RpHwP (http://goo.gl/maps/RpHwP)
South Range, WI. Just south of Duluth/Superior.
There is a Range, WI about 2 hours south of South Range.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on September 07, 2014, 12:15:36 AM
South Range, WI. Just south of Duluth/Superior.
There is a Range, WI about 2 hours south of South Range.
And a South Range, Michigan, south of Houghton on M-26. There is no Range in the UP. Instead, it is named for being in the south part of the copper mining range.
I just remembered a town that I know quite well, although I haven't been there in several years. In the Lancaster, PA area there is a town called East Petersburg. However there is no town named Petersburg nor is there any other directional prefixed Petersburgs in the area.
Westwood, CA its where UCLA is at in the LA Basin but its a district.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills,_Michigan This also known as Westwood, MI.
There's Northeast, NY, and Southeast, NY. Both are about 60 miles apart along the CT border. Both are better known for a village they contain (Millerton, and Brewster, respectively). The east part is accurate, but there's a lot of NY state north and south of the two towns.
Then there's the Hampton collection in MA (North, East, South, West), but there's no just plain Hampton.
West Liberty, OH and East Liberty, OH are fairly close, and situated as you might expect relative to one another. I mention them because they (and perhaps East Canton) are the oddballs of Ohio. Normally a city with a directional name has no opposite or directionless counterpart where you'd expect.
Previously mentioned West Carrollton is indeed west of Carrollton, but at quite a distance. Previously mentioned North Bloomfield is near Cleveland, while South Bloomfield is near Columbus; which came first? I don't know of any Bloomfield.
There are two West Jeffersons, and while I don't know of any Jefferson Ohio, neither is west of Jeffersonville. South Vienna and South Charleston seem to be orphaned as well.
Not quite on topic, but how did Old Washington get its name? Was it originally called Washington and renamed in deference to a newer one? (There's Washington C.H. ...)
That reminds me of North Washington, which is indeed north of both Old Washington and Washington C.H., but at a substantial distance.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on September 15, 2014, 01:36:21 AM
There's Northeast, NY, and Southeast, NY. Both are about 60 miles apart along the CT border. Both are better known for a village they contain (Millerton, and Brewster, respectively). The east part is accurate, but there's a lot of NY state north and south of the two towns.
Then there's the Hampton collection in MA (North, East, South, West), but there's no just plain Hampton.
That pretty much sums up the Hamptons on Long Island. (Note: no space between the words.)
Quote from: lepidopteran on September 04, 2014, 10:58:33 PM
In the Cleveland area
- North Bloomfield
- North Olmsted
Where is North Bloomfield??? In the Cleveland area, there is North Olmsted, North Ridgeville and North Royalton, but no North Bloomfield.
The only somewhat accurate directional cities in the area offhand is South Euclid (it is south of Euclid) and East Cleveland -- although Cleveland proper does have a sliver of municipality east of East Cleveland.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on September 15, 2014, 01:36:21 AM
Then there's the Hampton collection in MA (North, East, South, West), but there's no just plain Hampton.
And in New Jersey, you have all the Brunswicks except West, plus a "New". Only plain Brunswick I know of, aside from many bowling alleys, is in MD, near Harpers Ferry, WV. Exit 9 of the NJTP signs it as "New Brunswick, East Brunswick". I say the only reason they didn't go with "The Brunswicks" is because South B. is best accessed via Exit 8A.
On that note, Exit 10 is signed "The Amboys" for Perth Amboy and South Amboy.
And Exit 15W is for Kearny and The Oranges (does that sound like the name of a '60s rock band?). Again, you have plain Orange, plus all the cardinal directions except North. What, no Orange-Pineapple? (sorry, couldn't resist)
Edit: or the Asian community of Mandarin Orange
Quote from: lepidopteran on September 16, 2014, 08:16:28 PMOn that note, Exit 10 is signed "The Amboys" for Perth Amboy and South Amboy.
And Exit 15W is for Kearny and The Oranges (does that sound like the name of a '60s rock band?). Again, you have plain Orange, plus all the cardinal directions except North. What, no Orange-Pineapple? (sorry, couldn't resist)
This is something New Jersey likes to do. The Turnpike exit for Route 46 is (or was) signed "The Ridgefields," which always sounded like a sitcom to me. Is there a "The Caldwells" sign anywhere?
Quote from: Pete from Boston on September 16, 2014, 08:41:57 PM
Quote from: lepidopteran on September 16, 2014, 08:16:28 PMOn that note, Exit 10 is signed "The Amboys" for Perth Amboy and South Amboy.
And Exit 15W is for Kearny and The Oranges (does that sound like the name of a '60s rock band?). Again, you have plain Orange, plus all the cardinal directions except North. What, no Orange-Pineapple? (sorry, couldn't resist)
This is something New Jersey likes to do. The Turnpike exit for Route 46 is (or was) signed "The Ridgefields," which always sounded like a sitcom to me. Is there a "The Caldwells" sign anywhere?
Yes. US 46 East in the Montville area is signed for the Caldwells.
I thought so.
Hudson, NY and North Hudson, NY are about 132 miles from each other.
Quote from: US81 on September 06, 2014, 01:17:15 AM
There's West, TX which is actually in central Texas north of Waco nowhere near west Texas.
We also have a West, MS, about an hour or so north of me.
There's West Point, MS. I'm not aware of a North Point, East Point or South Point. There's also a West Point, GA, but is separated by about 75 miles from East Point, GA.
Then, there's Southaven, MS, which is located south of the section of Memphis that's known as Whitehaven.
Quote from: golden eagle on September 18, 2014, 07:22:22 PM
Quote from: US81 on September 06, 2014, 01:17:15 AM
There's West, TX which is actually in central Texas north of Waco nowhere near west Texas.
There's West Point, MS. I'm not aware of a North Point, East Point or South Point. There's also a West Point, GA, but is separated by about 75 miles from East Point, GA.
West Point, New York, (not a town, but a CDP better known than the town it's in) is not west of Point or East Point, but I don't think anyone ever really considers that it might be.
Northridge in Los Angeles its a district but there is no district named ridge. This may be close proximity to Santa Monica Mountains.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwehpTLIIAA1Gkm.jpg)
Here's South Carrollton, Kentucky. Yes, there is a Carrollton in Kentucky, but it's pretty far northeast of South Carrollton. Perhaps Carrollton's location on the Ohio River is why South Carrollton seems to have inherited a steamboat on their sign, when they aren't anywhere near a body of water themselves.
Quote from: lepidopteran on September 04, 2014, 10:58:33 PM
One curiosity that has always stood out in Ohio is the city of "Upper Sandusky". Not a cardinal direction per se, but we tend to think of "up" as north when looking at a map. But actually, Upper Sandusky is some 60 miles southwest of it's un-adjectived namesake on Lake Erie. The name comes from it's "upper" position on the Sandusky River, which empties into the bay of the same name next to the city of Sandusky.
This is a fantastic example. Lots of people fall into the trap of thinking of north and south as up and down, when the terms "upper" and "lower" have completely different meanings.
Quote from: US81 on September 06, 2014, 01:17:15 AM
There's West, TX which is actually in central Texas north of Waco nowhere near west Texas.
Similarly, there's a Western, Nebraska that's not in Western Nebraska (it's an hour SW of Lincoln).