# History of "Keys to the City"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-keys-to-the-city/229055>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 13, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-keys-to-the-city/229055 "2004-02-13T16:25:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-keys-to-the-city/229055/1 "2004-02-13T16:25:22Z")

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My city is now going to start “giving away the keys to the city.” I think this practice is based on giving keys to the city walls, but I am not sure.

Does anyone know where this practice came from?

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-keys-to-the-city/229055/2 "2004-02-13T20:52:46Z")

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The earliest instance I’ve found was when William the Conqueror was given the keys to the city of York. Such keys would be to the city’s gates, and giving them was a sign of submission to a conqueror.