Given how large the state is, Texas is home to a variety of different and uniquely named places. As a matter of fact, Texas is home to 254 counties; 1,208 incorporated cities [1] and 5,178 towns [2] for a combined 6,610 municipalities including the counties. It’s no wonder why many Texas cities and counties share or derive their name with other famous cities within the US and abroad. Below is a list of Texas places that share common names with other famous US cities.
Albuquerque-Albuquerque is a ghost town in Gonzales County that is said to have been named by Texas soldiers who had fought under Henry H. Sibley in New Mexico. [3]
Albany-The county seat of Shackleford County, Albany was named for Albany, Georgia by early county clerk William E. Dyess. [4]
Arlington-Tarrant County’s second largest city and the third principle city in the Dallas-Fort Worth was named for Robert E. Lee’s Arlington house in the Washington D.C. suburb of the same name. [5]
Atlanta-Childhood home of Ellen DeGeneres, Kevin Rahm, and NFL running back Derrick Blaylock, this Cass County city was named for its more notable relative in Georgia. [6]
Boise-Boise is a ghost town in Oldham County near the Texas New Mexico border. The name origin is unspecified.
Boston -This unincorporated town in Bowie County was named for an early resident of the area named W.J. Boston. [7]
Buffalo-Known for changing it’s name before both Bills-Cowboys Super Bowl to Blue Star [8], this small town in Leon County was named for the herds of buffalo that roamed nearby at the time of it’s founding.[9]
Cincinnati-Cincinnati was a settlement in Walker County named by James C. DeWitt, though it’s unspecified whether or not the name came from the more famous Ohio city. [10]
Cleveland-A suburb of Houston, this Liberty County city was named for Charles Lander Cleveland. [11]
Columbus-Situated in Colorado Co. less than 100 miles from Houston, Columbus was named for the famous explorer of the same name.
Charlotte is a city in Atascosa County is named for Charlotte Simmons, the daughter of Dr. Charles Simmons. [12]
Denver City-Appoximately 70 miles southwest of Lubbock in Yoakum and Gaines County, Denver City was named by C. S. Ameen in 1939 to honor a friend who worked for Denver Productions near the townsite. [13]
Detroit-This city of 776 residents in Red River County was named for Detroit, Michigan by a local railroad agent in 1887. [14]
Fresno-A part of the Greater Houston Area, this Fort Bend County city was reportedly named by an early settler from Fresno, California. [15]
Jacksonville-This Cherokee County city was re-named from Gum Creek to Jacksonville in 1850 after early settlers Jackson Smith and Dr. William Jackson. [16]
Los Angeles-La Salle, County is home to this city which was named due to the fact it is said to have a similar climate to it’s bigger relative. [17]
Miami-The seat of Roberts County in the Texas Panhandle with a pronunciation that ends with an “uh” rather than an “EE,” was possibly named after an Algonquin word for sweetheart. Settlers who may have been from the northeast where the Algonquin are native to may have given the name. [18]
Memphis-The name for this Hall County city is said to have come from a letter that was accidently adressed to “Memphis, Texas” instead of Tennessee. The town was nameless at the time and following the incident the name was submitted and accepted on September 12, 1890. [19]
New York-Located in Henderson County, New York was named either as a joke by early settler T.B. Herndon or because of the aspirations another early settler (Davis Reynolds) had for the town. [20]
Nashville-on-the-Brazos-This ghost town in Milam County was named for it’s larger relative in Tennessee by Sterling C. Robertson, who was born there. [21]
Norfolk-A ghost town north of Carlisle in Rusk County, the name origin for Norfolk is unspecified. [22]
Omaha-The name for this Morris County city was selected from a hat as residents sought to change the name from Morristown in 1886. [23]
Raleigh-A ghost town in Fannin County established during the late 1830s, Raleigh derived its name from the more famous capital city of North Carolina, which was the hometown of its founder John G. Jouitt. [24]
Richmond-County seat of Fort Bend County near Houston, Richmond was named for Richmond, England. [25]
Rochester-Though it was to be named in honor of A.B. Carothers, postal authorities chose to name this Haskell County. [26]
Pittsburg-The county seat of Camp County was named after early prominent settler Major Pitts in the mid-1800’s. [27]
Portland-Not to be confused with the ghost town in Fannin County [28], A beach community on Corpus Christi Bay, this San Patricio County city was named in 1891 presumably because early city planner John G. Willacy named it after one of his company’s (New England Land Company) base of operations, Portland, Maine. [29]
San Diego-The name for name of the seat of Duval County derives from San Diego Creek, which in turn was named for a Spanish land grant to Julian and Ventura Flores. [30]
Santa Fe-A Galveston County city once known for the debate on student prayer, Santa Fe was named for the Santa Fe railroad, now the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad.[31]
Seattle-This former community in Coryell County close to present-day Fort Hood is said to have been named by a resident named W. A. Umberhagen because he liked it. [32]
St. Louis-Just to the southwest of Tyler, Texas in Smith County, St. Louis was named for an elementary school built in community in 1880, which in turn was named for the famous Missouri city in 1880. [33]
Toronto-The name for this Brewster County city is alleged to have come from a Native American word meaning “rising land. [34]
Tulsa-This ghost town in Winkler County was named for it’s bigger Oklahoma relative. [35]
Washington-on-the-Brazos-This unincorporated area of Washington County along the Brazos River where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed was given its name due to its status as the temporary home of the government of the Republic of Texas, likening it to Washington DC. [36]
Wichita Falls-Famous for being the occasional training camp site of the Dallas Cowboys, the county seat of Witchita County was named after the Wichita River [37] and a small waterfall along the river that evetually washed up. The river in turn was named after the Witchita Indian tribe by the Texas Santa Fe Expedition in 1841. [38]
References
[1]http://www.texasalmanac.com/facts/
[2]http://www.fallingrain.com/world/US/48/
[3]http://www.texasescapes.com/CentralTexasTownsSouth/Albuquerque-Texas.htm
[4]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany,_Texas
[5]http://www.arlingtontx.gov/history/index.html
[6]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta,_Texas
[7]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Boston,_Texas
[8]http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Buffalo_Texas/id/1940264
[9]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/hjb21.html
[10]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/hvc52.html
[11]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/hfc8.html
[12]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/hjc8.html
[13]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/hjd4.html
[14]http://www.red-river.net/detroit_history.htm
[15]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/FF/hlf29.html
[16]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/JJ/hej1.html
[17]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/LL/hll62.html
[18]http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/MiamiTexas/MiamiTexas.htm
[19]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/hgm5.html
[20]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/NN/hrn19.html
[21]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/NN/hvn4.html
[22]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/NN/htn8.html
[23]http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Omaha-Texas.htm
[24]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/hvr7.html
[25]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/hfr4.html
[26]http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasTowns/Rochester-Texas.htm
[27]http://www.pittsburgtexas.com/pages/history
[28]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/PP/hvpap.html
[29]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/PP/hep9.html
[30]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/rbs43.html
[31]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe,_Texas
[32]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/hvs62.html
[33]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/hrscn.html
[34]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/hvt50.html
[35]http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txwinkle/tulsa.htm
[36]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington-on-the-Brazos,_Texas
[37]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/WW/hdw2.html
[38]http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/WW/rnw6.html
