Goodbye Mount McKinley. Hello Mount Denali

[SteveG1988]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/mount-mckinley-will-be-renamed-denali.html?_r=0

[roadman]

Glad our President has the affairs of the country so well in hand that he can take the time to rename a mountain peak.

[Pete from Boston]

Glad our President has the affairs of the country so well in hand that he can take the time to rename a mountain peak.

Isn't that a little like saying people in South Carolina must have all their pressing problems solved if they have the free time to protest a flag?

[Bruce]

It's just Denali. You don't say Mount K2.

This decision (which is a nice gesture for the Alaskan people) has now sparked discussions about other mountains, including Mount Rainier in my own backyard. Rainier vs. Tahoma...I'd prefer the first because it sounds better and having to rename the things named for Mount Rainier instead to Tahoma (such as Rainier Valley, Rainier Avenue, and Rainier Beach) would duplicate things named for the city of Tacoma.

[SteveG1988]

Well, this has been ongoing since 1975, the Congressman who has been battling it left in 2009. The name originated as a joke...two people were arguing, one guy loved gold, so did the then Canidate McKinley. so he named it after a gold lover to spite a silver lover. It's like someone naming a newly discovered moon "Trump Moon" to spite someone who supports another person.

[roadman65]

People are going to call it whatever they want look at New York City.  The road has been named Avenue of the Americas for so many decades, yet for years after the change you have New Yorkers still refusing to call it by its new name, so that NYCDOT had to have multiple names on street blades later on.

The same for MA 128 and I-93 in the Boston Area.  Many will still call it Route 128 and never recognize the interstate number(s).

BTW, who can rename mountains and rivers anyway?  Just curious if its congress or the states?  And how would you rename the Mississippi River being in multiple states?

[TXtoNJ]

People are going to call it whatever they want look at New York City.  The road has been named Avenue of the Americas for so many decades, yet for years after the change you have New Yorkers still refusing to call it by its new name, so that NYCDOT had to have multiple names on street blades later on.

The same for MA 128 and I-93 in the Boston Area.  Many will still call it Route 128 and never recognize the interstate number(s).

BTW, who can rename mountains and rivers anyway?  Just curious if its congress or the states?  And how would you rename the Mississippi River being in multiple states?

Well, NYC is a bit of a special case, given the orthogonal naming system.

From what I understand, people call it Denali anyway in Alaska, so I think it'll stick.

[oscar]

It's not "Mount Denali". Just "Denali".

And it's about time. Alaska's Congressional delegation (all-Republican now, and Republican-dominated at all relevant times) has been pushing this for four decades, only to be blocked by Ohio Congresscritters. Besides, almost everybody up there called it "Denali", except when compelled to begrudgingly use the official name.

No offense to Pres. McKinley (who at least got his face on the $500 bill, back when dollars were made of gold), but the renaming of Denali for him has long rankled Alaskans, not just the native peoples who first named the mountain. Like the former Wade Hampton census area renamed earlier this year, it was yet another example of non-Alaskan names foisted on the territory, then the state, from Outside (Alaskans' less complimentary term for "the lower 48").

[roadman65]

My personal opinion is this is only be reported because Caitlyn Jenner is old news.  The media loves to agitate us with something or another primarily to distract us from what we really need to hear.

[Pete from Boston]

People are going to call it whatever they want look at New York City.  The road has been named Avenue of the Americas for so many decades, yet for years after the change you have New Yorkers still refusing to call it by its new name, so that NYCDOT had to have multiple names on street blades later on.

The same for MA 128 and I-93 in the Boston Area.  Many will still call it Route 128 and never recognize the interstate number(s).

Except you're citing new names people don't use.  This is returning an old name that people do use.

[roadman65]

To some people it is a new name.   All of my life its been McKinley and to some of the millenials it is even more so.  Not many people are that informed these days, and even I did not know its original name until recently. 

Being its been called Mount McKinley for years you get just used to it.

[corco]

Honestly, at least in this part of the country (where I suspect more people have ties to Alaska), "Denali" has been the preferred nomenclature for years- Mt. McKinley has been located in Denali National Park since 1980. Given that the park has been called Denali and a good chunk of people already called the mountain Denali, Denali has definitely overtaken "McKinley" as what people say in the last decade or so.

[kkt]

Calling it Mt. McKinley never really caught on (unlike Mt. Rainier).  If Ohio wants to memorialize President McKinley, let them name their own highest mountain after him, all 1500 feet of it.

[roadman]

Glad our President has the affairs of the country so well in hand that he can take the time to rename a mountain peak.

Isn't that a little like saying people in South Carolina must have all their pressing problems solved if they have the free time to protest a flag?

Point taken.  Forgive me for having a hard time with government (be at the Federal, state, or local level) engaging in the cheap politics of naming or renaming things.  Especially when it's done by executive order or decree.

[Duke87]

This decision has now sparked discussions about other mountains, including Mount Rainier in my own backyard. Rainier vs. Tahoma.

Wait, "Tahoma"? Huh, so that's where the font gets its name from.


When I first read this story I was surprised to learn that Denali wasn't already the official name. I thought that change had been made years ago. I'll tell you this, though: everyone in the northeast knows it as Mount McKinley and is likely to continue calling it such for quite some time.

An interesting note: "Denali" apparently literally just means "the big one" in the local native language. So it's actually a quite generic name.

[amroad17]

Calling it Mt. McKinley never really caught on (unlike Mt. Rainier).  If Ohio wants to memorialize President McKinley, let them name their own highest mountain after him, all 1500 feet of it.

What, Campbell Hill (outside Bellefontaine)?

Just saw pictures of it on Wikipedia.  It looks like a regular hill behind a school.

[1995hoo]

I was rather amused to hear some woman being interviewed on NBC Nightly News tonight saying now it'll forever be called Denali. Who's to say some future president or governor or foreign power won't change it again?

While I've always called it Denali, I do sort of wonder what name the people who objected to calling it Mt. McKinley use when they refer to the mountain commonly known as Everest.

Glad our President has the affairs of the country so well in hand that he can take the time to rename a mountain peak.

Isn't that a little like saying people in South Carolina must have all their pressing problems solved if they have the free time to protest a flag?

Point taken.  Forgive me for having a hard time with government (be at the Federal, state, or local level) engaging in the cheap politics of naming or renaming things.  Especially when it's done by executive order or decree.

How about Niggerskull Mountain in North Carolina? There was a bill in the General Assembly about 12 years ago to rename seven places in the western part of the state whose names included that word. To the extent the old names had any legal status, I guess it's hard to object to that bill.

[Bruce]

Mount Rainier was temporarily renamed once before (as a joke): http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2014/02/01/mount-rainier-renamed-mount-seattle-seahawks-for-super-bowl-xlviii/

[ARMOURERERIC]

GM paid the DNC millions for the naming rights, Toyota will soon so the same in getting Ranier changed to TAKOMA.

[Rothman]

I'll tell you this, though: everyone in the northeast knows it as Mount McKinley and is likely to continue calling it such for quite some time.

Baloney.  People were taught about the Denali/Mount McKinley naming mess when I was in high school in the Northeast.

[Duke87]

I'll tell you this, though: everyone in the northeast knows it as Mount McKinley and is likely to continue calling it such for quite some time.

Baloney.  People were taught about the Denali/Mount McKinley naming mess when I was in high school in the Northeast.

Eh, when was this? I would have never heard the name "Denali" before had I not learned about it on my own time. I graduated from high school in 2005.

[jeffandnicole]

I'll tell you this, though: everyone in the northeast knows it as Mount McKinley and is likely to continue calling it such for quite some time.

Baloney.  People were taught about the Denali/Mount McKinley naming mess when I was in high school in the Northeast.

You mean you were taught it in your specific high school. I don't think you can speak for the entire Northeast. If I was ever taught it, I don't recall it. Then again, McKinley hasn't exactly been a conversation piece amongst family, friends, bartenders, checkout line standees, and doctor office waiting rooms in the 22 years I've been out of school either.

[davewiecking]

I really don't remember any discussion of it being anything other than Mt. McKinley when I was growing up. The answer to the trivia question was always Mt. McKinley. Wonder what Alex Trebek would accept. The Belgian Congo, Siam and Peking used to grace world maps produced in America. We've got to stop calling things by the names the locals want to use. Please tell me I don't need to type (sarc)...

[DaBigE]

I'll tell you this, though: everyone in the northeast knows it as Mount McKinley and is likely to continue calling it such for quite some time.

Baloney.  People were taught about the Denali/Mount McKinley naming mess when I was in high school in the Northeast.

If I was ever taught it, I don't recall it. Then again, McKinley hasn't exactly been a conversation piece amongst family, friends, bartenders, checkout line standees, and doctor office waiting rooms in the 22 years I've been out of school either.

Agreed. Until this news story I had completely forgotten where this geographical feature even was. If it was something closer to me (geographically or psychologically) the name would matter more, but I can see how this could be a point of contention for some (as the Sears Tower and the Marquette Warriors are to me).

[1995hoo]

I don't ever remember the mountain being mentioned, by any name, when I was in school, unless it came up in some kind of trivia competition. The teachers would have gone by whatever the maps said, though, and there would not have been any discussion of there being any possibility of there being some other name.

Political correctness did not exactly run rampant when I was a kid, of course. I'm pretty sure I remember a grade-school teacher showing a filmstrip version of "Tikki Tikki Tembo." You try that in public school today and you'll be fired within hours.