South Dakota county changes name

[bandit957]

In my mind at least, where a county's name comes from is usually just random trivia, not an "honor" to someone. Quick - where does the county you live in get its name from? The vast majority of Americans will not know the answer to this question.

John Campbell, a Revolutionary War soldier.

[NE2]

Quick - where does the county you live in get its name from?

The fruit that used to grow all over here. To the north and south are counties named for an Indian tribe and an Indian chief.

But I see your point - many counties are named after random crackers.

[Pete from Boston]

After an English county, like most counties here (it's a new England, after all).

[Laura]

This is really awesome. I was just in South Dakota this summer, but was unable to make it down to the reservation due to time constraints. There's something to be said about having your tribal name also being the official name of the county - it will definitely be a morale booster there.

Yeah, I've heard conditions aren't good down there. This'll be neat for them.

OT, where did you go this summer?

My family took a road trip from Baltimore to South Dakota. In South Dakota, we visited Mount Rushmore, Keystone, Custer State Park, Belle Fourche, Deadwood, Wall, Badlands National Park, Crazy Horse Monument. We also dipped into Wyoming to visit Devil's Tower.

We visited Crazy Horse in the evening because we wanted to see the laser show on the monument (which was so awesome). On that particular night, they had a band there playing, and inbetween each set, he was telling stories about life on the Rez, and it was hard living. We all loved Crazy Horse and learning about the history of the Oglala Lakota. It's important to acknowledge the original people and their heritage before European Americans stole their land.

In my mind at least, where a county's name comes from is usually just random trivia, not an "honor" to someone. Quick - where does the county you live in get its name from? The vast majority of Americans will not know the answer to this question.

The county where I grew up is named for Henry Harford, the illegitimate son of the second Lord Baltimore. Only county in the US named after a bastard! Lol

Baltimore County and Baltimore City were named for Lord Baltimore, who had the original charter from King Charles I.

Lynchburg City was named for the Quaker John Lynch, who set up the first ferry there in 1757. There was a huge 250th celebration when I lived there back in 2007.


iPhone

[kkt]

In my mind at least, where a county's name comes from is usually just random trivia, not an "honor" to someone. Quick - where does the county you live in get its name from?

King County, Washington -- originally, William Rufus King, who was vice president of the U.S. when Washington became a territory.  Since then, changed to honor Martin Luther King.

[english si]

After an English county

That's funny, so's mine!

OK, mine is named after a town I've been to once, which is named after an Anglo-Saxon invader-settler "Bucca" (Buckingham - Bucca's people's farm).

[hbelkins]

I don't know if every other Lee County in the country is named after Robert E. Lee, but mine is. Or more precisely, it's said to have been named after Lee County, Va., which was named after him.

[Scott5114]

My county is named after President Grover Cleveland. Cleveland had no ties to Oklahoma, as far as I know, and was only chosen as a county name because he was a recent president at the time the county was established (much like if someone were setting up a county today and named it Reagan).

Oklahoma seems to waffle between county names that have some sort of cultural significance (like the many Native-derived names, and counties like Haskell and Murray, both of which were named after important governors) and those which are extremely suspect. I grew up in McClain County, which was named after a Charles McClain whose main claim to fame was to be present at the constitutional convention that established McClain County. He never held any sort of office before or since, and wasn't known for anything else. It gets worse–Marshall County is named not for a constitutional convention attendee, but for their mother. Specifically, her maiden name. If either of these counties were to rename themselves for something more relevant to the counties themselves, I wouldn't blame them in the slightest.

[corco]

In my mind at least, where a county's name comes from is usually just random trivia, not an "honor" to someone. Quick - where does the county you live in get its name from?

King County, Washington -- originally, William Rufus King, who was vice president of the U.S. when Washington became a territory.  Since then, changed to honor Martin Luther King.

That's a county name change that strikes me as being relatively pointless. Dr. King has nothing directly to do with Washington State's history. Beyond being a slave owner William Rufus King wasn't a particularly atrocious figure, and certainly most people in King County had no idea who he was. He just wasn't very notable, and attempt to make controversy around him isn't quite something I agree with. Maybe there is something to be said about naming the county after somebody more notable, but choosing Dr. King seemed to only be the choice because it fit in with the existing county name (as far as I know no other names were in the hat), which is a good-hearted attempt at whitewashing at best and downright offensive at worst.

That really does wreak of an attempt to just be politically correct, and from what I know of that issue (somebody correct me if I'm wrong), it came from the top-down as opposed to the bottom-up as it did in Shannon County's case. The county council presented the vote to the people, as opposed to it being a citizen-driven ballot initiative.

[NE2]

King County, Washington -- originally, William Rufus King, who was vice president of the U.S. when Washington became a territory.  Since then, changed to honor Martin Luther King.

That's a county name change that strikes me as being relatively pointless.

It's not really a change - is the namesake of the county even written in the law?

[corco]

King County, Washington -- originally, William Rufus King, who was vice president of the U.S. when Washington became a territory.  Since then, changed to honor Martin Luther King.

That's a county name change that strikes me as being relatively pointless.

It's not really a change - is the namesake of the county even written in the law?

Technically no. It was a very visible change though- the King County logo is visible everywhere in the county (on all buses and bus stops) and the logo was changed from left to right:



So Dr. King's face is plastered all over the county (you can't walk fifty feet in Seattle without seeing it), which sure, that's fine, as long as it was done for the right reasons and not just because they were looking for a convenient politically correct figure to rename the county after, or as a marketing scheme for the county to say "look how tolerant we are!"

[hbelkins]

It's a common misconception that Lincoln County, Ky., is named after Abraham Lincoln, the only president born in Kentucky. Nope. Actually, Lincoln County was one of the three original counties formed when Kentucky split off from Virginia to become its own state (Fayette and Jefferson are the other two). I'm not sure who the Lincoln that the county was named after was, but it's definitely not Honest Abe.

[NE2]

Benjamin Lincoln (1733—1810), Revolutionary War general

[SD Mapman]

This is really awesome. I was just in South Dakota this summer, but was unable to make it down to the reservation due to time constraints. There's something to be said about having your tribal name also being the official name of the county - it will definitely be a morale booster there.

Yeah, I've heard conditions aren't good down there. This'll be neat for them.

OT, where did you go this summer?

My family took a road trip from Baltimore to South Dakota. In South Dakota, we visited Mount Rushmore, Keystone, Custer State Park, Belle Fourche, Deadwood, Wall, Badlands National Park, Crazy Horse Monument. We also dipped into Wyoming to visit Devil's Tower.

Well that makes for an intense trip (Belle Fourche is overrated, in my own personal opinion).

In my mind at least, where a county's name comes from is usually just random trivia, not an "honor" to someone. Quick - where does the county you live in get its name from? The vast majority of Americans will not know the answer to this question.

After our first county treasurer, Col. John Lawrence (who wasn't really a colonel).

[briantroutman]

My county is named after President Grover Cleveland. Cleveland had no ties to Oklahoma, as far as I know, and was only chosen as a county name because he was a recent president at the time the county was established (much like if someone were setting up a county today and named it Reagan).

Something I learned in a Pennsylvania History course at Penn State: Cass Township in Schuylkill County was created in 1848 and named for Lewis Cass, a former governor and US Senator from Michigan with absolutely no connection to the area or Pennsylvania in general. But what's unbelievable is that the county was named for him in 1848, the year he was running for President (and lost). And neighboring Butler Township was named for his running mate the same year!

That would be like somewhere in rural North Dakota setting up Dukakis and Bentsen Townships...in the summer of 1988. Or McCain and Palin Townships in 2008.

[Brandon]

In my mind at least, where a county's name comes from is usually just random trivia, not an "honor" to someone. Quick - where does the county you live in get its name from? The vast majority of Americans will not know the answer to this question.

Dr. Conrad Will.

[vtk]

My county was named after some old white dude.  I think he invented a few things, and self-published his scientific findings.  Oh yeah, Emmett Brown.  Wait, no, I don't live in Brown County...

[GaryV]

My county was presumably named for its abundance of oak trees.

Other counties in the state have a more interesting story:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_counties

[froggie]

My home county was named after Father Louis Hennepin, who was the first European to see (and later named them) St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

My current county, it is said, was named after the city of Orleans, France.

Of the other counties I've lived in:

- Two were named for rivers in or along side the county.

- One was named for a War of 1812 officer.

- One was named for Lord Fairfax, who was granted by the King of England all the land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers.

[Kacie Jane]

King County, Washington -- originally, William Rufus King, who was vice president of the U.S. when Washington became a territory.  Since then, changed to honor Martin Luther King.

That's a county name change that strikes me as being relatively pointless.

It's not really a change - is the namesake of the county even written in the law?

Technically no.

Technically yes, which is why technically, the change didn't take place until 2005, not 1986. http://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=36.04.170

[triplemultiplex]

Time to split off the part of this thread going off topic about "Who is your county named after?"

Mine was named after a sitting state senator at the time.  Seems he was majority leader or something.

[kkt]

King County, Washington -- originally, William Rufus King, who was vice president of the U.S. when Washington became a territory.  Since then, changed to honor Martin Luther King.

That's a county name change that strikes me as being relatively pointless.

It's not really a change - is the namesake of the county even written in the law?

Technically no.

Actually it is now, but it took the state legislature a while after the county council adopted it.

MLK is a lot more significant in most people's lives than a fairly insignificant vice president.

[JMoses24]

Boone County, Kentucky, where I live now, was named after Daniel Boone.

Hamilton County, Ohio, which is where I spent a part of my youth, was named for Alexander Hamilton.

Butler County, Ohio, which is where I was born, was named after General Richard Butler, who died in 1791 during St Clair's Defeat, a major military battle between the US and the Miami, Shawnee and Delaware tribes.

[Pete from Boston]

My county was named after some old white dude.  I think he invented a few things, and self-published his scientific findings.  Oh yeah, Emmett Brown.  Wait, no, I don't live in Brown County...

You did, but now it's Tannen County, and nobody remembers otherwise.

[J N Winkler]

In my mind at least, where a county's name comes from is usually just random trivia, not an "honor" to someone. Quick - where does the county you live in get its name from? The vast majority of Americans will not know the answer to this question.

This forum is not a representative sample of the US population at large, but I know without having to look it up exactly whom my county is named after:  Major General John Sedgwick.  It is one of only two counties named after him, the other being at the very northeastern corner of Colorado.

I don't get the impression the southern counties in New York were just named after degrees of nobility--Wikipedia says, for example, that Dutchess County was named after Mary of Modena, Duchess of York, wife of James, Duke of York, later King James II of England.  New York in general has county names that recall key events contemporaneous with the Glorious Revolution, such as Ulster, Orange, etc.