Ambiguous City Names

[webny99]

Inspired by some discussion here, what are some city names that it is necessary to specify the state, or otherwise provide context, so that others will know what you're talking about? Obviously, this will vary from place to place, which is partly what makes this an interesting conversation.

Rochester (NY vs MN) was discussed in the other thread. (Obligatory nod to New England: There is also a Rochester, NH.)
Augusta (ME vs GA) comes immediately to mind.
Also Newark (NJ vs DE).

What other examples exist in your area, and do you think they are specific to your area, or largely nationwide?
Let's say that both cities (or all, if there are 3+), have to have at least 5,000 residents to qualify.

[Scott5114]

Every state except OK and a couple others has a Springfield. Most of the time it refers to MO, IL, or MA.

[zzcarp]

One of my favorites is nearby Louisville, Colorado versus the more famous Louisville, Kentucky.

Of course, ours is pronounced like "Lewisville" versus the Kentucky "Looey-ville" so it only matters in written communication and for out-of-towners.

[webny99]

the Kentucky "Looey-ville"

That is one thing I've genuinely never understood. Is it supposed to sound French, or something?

[Roadgeekteen]

Inspired by some discussion here, what are some city names that it is necessary to specify the state, or otherwise provide context, so that others will know what you're talking about? Obviously, this will vary from place to place, which is partly what makes this an interesting conversation.

Rochester (NY vs MN) was discussed in the other thread. (Obligatory nod to New England: There is also a Rochester, NH.)
Augusta (ME vs GA) comes immediately to mind.
Also Newark (NJ vs DE).

What other examples exist in your area, and do you think they are specific to your area, or largely nationwide?
Let's say that both cities (or all, if there are 3+), have to have at least 5,000 residents to qualify.

Newark immediately comes to mind for New Jersey. I don't think that Delaware would be thought of that much. Maybe Charleston (SC vs WV).

One of my favorites is nearby Louisville, Colorado versus the more famous Louisville, Kentucky.

Of course, ours is pronounced like "Lewisville" versus the Kentucky "Looey-ville" so it only matters in written communication and for out-of-towners.

Lousville would almost always be thought of as the Kentucky one.

[oscar]

Portland ME and Portland OR (there are others, but they are the best-known).

Las Vegas NV and Las Vegas NM.

Not the same, but Ontario CA sometimes gets confused with the Canadian province with that name, to the point where some airline passengers reportedly get ticketed to the wrong airport.

[CtrlAltDel]

the Kentucky "Looey-ville"

That is one thing I've genuinely never understood. Is it supposed to sound French, or something?

Yes. The city is named after Louis XVI, the king of France at the time the city was founded, as a sign of gratitude for France's help during the Revolutionary War. Later his head was, shall we say, involuntarily removed, but that all came later.

[NWI_Irish96]

Springfield IL and MO
Columbus OH and IN
Wauconda IL and Wakanda

[1995hoo]

Wilmington, North Carolina, versus Wilmington, Delaware; this was even ambiguous when I was attending law school in North Carolina because some people referred to the Delaware one without specifying, which led some of us to assume they meant the local one.

I mentioned the two Charlestons (West Virginia and South Carolina) in another thread a few days ago. Some people refer to "Charlie West" and "Charlie South" to distinguish.

Per Oscar's point, I knew someone who claimed to have been sent to California when he wanted to fly to the province of Ontario. I never believed him. Who would ask for a ticket to "Ontario" instead of to "Toronto" or "Ottawa" or wherever?

[ozarkman417]

There are "Ozark"s in states where the Ozarks are located (MO, AR, OK, IL) Some consider the area around Shawnee Nat'l Forest to be part of the Ozarks but most do not.

There are "Buffalo"s in NY, MO, and SD (probably some more out west where you actually find them).

Both NC and SC has Greenvilles.

[Throckmorton]

Chillicothe

[hotdogPi]

Concord (MA and NH).

[Scott5114]

How did I miss the most obvious one, Kansas City, KS and MO?

[GaryV]

Troy MI is larger - by nearly a factor of 2 - than it's namesake, Troy NY.

[michravera]

the Kentucky "Looey-ville"

That is one thing I've genuinely never understood. Is it supposed to sound French, or something?

Yes. The city is named after Louis XVI, the king of France at the time the city was founded, as a sign of gratitude for France's help during the Revolutionary War. Later his head was, shall we say, involuntarily removed, but that all came later.

Better to say "unfavorably relocated".

[CtrlAltDel]

the Kentucky "Looey-ville"

That is one thing I've genuinely never understood. Is it supposed to sound French, or something?

Yes. The city is named after Louis XVI, the king of France at the time the city was founded, as a sign of gratitude for France's help during the Revolutionary War. Later his head was, shall we say, involuntarily removed, but that all came later.

Better to say "unfavorably relocated".

[jeffandnicole]

Woodbury. If you're in South NJ or NY, you probably know specifically which one they're referring to. Otherwise, it's best to mention the state, although my guess would be the NY one is more popular.

[Bruce]

How about within states?

There are two places named "Lakewood" at opposite ends of the Seattle metro area. One was established in 1927 and remains a fairly rural community (with suburban encroachment), while another was named in 1996 and immediately incorporated as a new city. The original Lakewood lost its name for its post office and was forced to be renamed to North Lakewood after the new Lakewood refused to use a different name and kept getting its mail redirected.

If we ever extend commuter rail service further north, there's potential to have two termini named Lakewood.

[Flint1979]

Saginaw is probably not going to be well known outside of the city in Michigan but I know of Michigan, Texas and Alabama having one.

As a matter of fact the Tri-Cities of Saginaw, Bay City and Midland all have a city in Texas with the same name.

So Midland, MI and TX

How about Lansing, MI and IL?

[Eth]

Gainesville, GA/FL. Roadgeeks probably think of the end of I-985, college sports fans probably think of the Gators.

[jeffandnicole]

How about within states?

NJ has 5 Washington Twps (down from 6), and rarely are they referenced in such a way where you can easily figure it out without context.

[Flint1979]

How about within states?

Michigan has a Harrison Township in Macomb County and a Harrison in Clare County.

The one in Macomb County is a suburb of Detroit and the one in Clare County is the county seat of Clare County.

[michravera]

Inspired by some discussion here, what are some city names that it is necessary to specify the state, or otherwise provide context, so that others will know what you're talking about? Obviously, this will vary from place to place, which is partly what makes this an interesting conversation.

Rochester (NY vs MN) was discussed in the other thread. (Obligatory nod to New England: There is also a Rochester, NH.)
Augusta (ME vs GA) comes immediately to mind.
Also Newark (NJ vs DE).

What other examples exist in your area, and do you think they are specific to your area, or largely nationwide?
Let's say that both cities (or all, if there are 3+), have to have at least 5,000 residents to qualify.

San Jose has at least one name check in all of the southwestern US states (CA, NV, AZ, NM, and TX). I haven't looked, but I would be surprised that there aren't also at least one each in FL and PR. It also has at least one name check in Mexico, Guatemala, and, of course, Costa Rica. I didn't look any farther south than Costa Rica. It is hard to believe that any of the rest of the Americas that were colonized by Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Roman Catholics would not have named some city for the man celebrated as the earthly father of their savior.

San Jose del Cabo, BCS, MX (SJD) and San Jose, CA, USA (SJC) have regularly scheduled non-stop airline service. I am fairly sure that some airlines also fly SJC to San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) but I couldn't immediately find non-stop service.

Sacramento, CA and NM has been mentioned, I am sure.
There are San Francisco and San Fransiquito both in California and an "Arcada" or "Arcata" each in both northern and southern California.

"San Juan" or "Sa~o Joa~o" (22 or 23 popes plus an important cousin), and "San Luis" (of which there are a large number of Catholic Saints) are likewise going to be common in Spanish and Portuguese settled areas.

When Spanish and Portuguese explorers had named one of each geographical feature for every important member of their crew, they turned to naming things based upon the feast day near which they found the place. The French did some of that, too, but they will look similar to the English word "Saint" because the masculine is spelled the same (but pronounced similar to the Spanish and Portuguese).

[Roadrunner75]

How about within states?

NJ has 5 Washington Twps (down from 6), and rarely are they referenced in such a way where you can easily figure it out without context.

We have multiple Franklin Townships too, and some soundalike towns - Bellmawr/Belmar, Moorestown/Morristown - to generate even more confusion.  A few years ago Dover Township in Ocean County decided to avoid confusion with another Dover in NJ and rename itself to what everyone already called it - Toms River.  One of the reasons I heard at the time was when national retailers and restaurants were looking at locations and they looked at Toms River, NJ they were seeing just the population of the downtown area of the township while the township is pretty sprawling with a population of around 92K and includes a mall outside of what they were seeing as "Toms River".   Toms River always seemed a little underserved by major chains, even by its mall, compared to Brick Township to the north.

[oscar]

How about within states?

Hawaii has three Waimeas and two Kailuas, left over from when the islands were divided into multiple kingdoms. Not until the U.S. Postal Service got involved was there any effort to fix the problem. The Waimea on Kauai and the Kailua on Oahu kept their names for postal purposes. The Waimeas on Oahu and the Big Island became, for postal purposes, respectively Maunawai and Kamuela. The Kailua on the Big Island became, postally, Kailua-Kona.

Quebec has two communities named Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, one south of the St. Lawrence and the other, larger one well north of the river. I don't know whether Canada Post did anything about that, besides assigning them different six-character postal codes.