Cities starting with directional names that are not N-S-E- W of something

[roadman65]

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

[/list]

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?

[Pete from Boston]

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.

[DandyDan]

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.

[Brandon]

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.

[SP Cook]

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)

[NWI_Irish96]

There is a North Liberty in St. Joseph County, IN, with no Liberty nearby.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

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.

[SteveG1988]

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.

[Big John]

East Liverpool, OH
West Bend, WI
West Allis, WI

[Zeffy]

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.

[Laura]

There is a Boston, VA about nine miles northwest of Culpepper, VA.


iPhone

[hbelkins]

West Liberty, Ky., is actually located quite a bit to the east (and north) of Liberty, Ky.

[TheStranger]

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)

[tchafe1978]

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.

[DaBigE]

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.

East Liverpool, OH
West Bend, WI
West Allis, WI

West Bend is the western-most bend in the Milwaukee River

[doorknob60]

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.

[pianocello]

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.

[Molandfreak]

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 )

[Molandfreak]

• West Milford, NJ
• South Boston, VA
• South Newport, GA

all of these are technically correct. 

[billtm]

West Lafayette, OH immediately comes to mind.

[Mapmikey]

North East, MD

Mapmikey

[lepidopteran]

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

• North Baltimore

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.)

[Duke87]

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.

[hbelkins]

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.

[DTComposer]

Also in California: North Highlands, outside of Sacramento.