# Town names not duplicated within US state - how enforced? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917 "2008-07-01T16:15:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/1 "2008-07-01T16:15:59Z")
Doing some work in the Open Directory on US local weather, it struck me that town names tend to be frequently duplicated in another US state, but, it seems, never within the same state, i.e. the $townname, $statename scheme seems to be unambiguous. So, what mechanism enforces this? I.e. when a newly founded town wants to adopt a name that is already used in the state, or when a town wants to rename itself to such a name, what entity is responsible for preventing this duplication, and what sanctions are available for that purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/2 "2008-07-01T16:23:22Z")
Towns are chartered with the state legislature. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/3 "2008-07-01T16:27:00Z")
The post office wields some clout, too. The town was initially called Manchester but was renamed Cuyahoga Falls at the request of the Post Office since there were already several other Manchesters in Ohio. [Wikipedia quote] ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/4 "2008-07-01T16:28:20Z")
New Jersey has some duplicates. The first ones that comes to mind are the two Red Banks. There are also two Collingswoods, though one is not technically a town but an area of a town. Mail gets addressed to Collingswood though for both. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/5 "2008-07-01T16:29:03Z")
There are still two Centervilles in Ohio. It’s by no means unheard of to have duplicate names in the same state. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/6 "2008-07-01T16:43:36Z")
Actually…I must revise my statement. There are _three_ Centervilles in Ohio, according to Wikipedia. I forgot about one of them. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/7 "2008-07-01T16:58:25Z")
Ohio has a hardcore [Madison Township](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Township%2C_Ohio) and [Union Township](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Township%2C_Ohio) fetish. There’s [164 names](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ohio_township_disambiguation_pages) that apply to two or more townships in Ohio. Before Zip codes, mail would be addressed to hamlets in the townships, which have unique names for the state. Mail sent to Madison Township in Lake County would be addressed to Unionville, North Madison, Gerund’s Corners (sic), or some other hamlet name. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/8 "2008-07-01T17:25:41Z")
Supposedly a town in Missouri wanted to call itself “Marysville.” The post office demurred say the state already had one, the name had to be unique. So it is now Unique. (I never bothered to check. A nice story though.) ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/9 "2008-07-01T17:29:56Z")
There are at least two Springfields in Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/10 "2008-07-01T17:48:38Z")
Convenience and lack of confusion will also help enforce singly-named towns. at one time there were three Washingtons in New Jersey (including my home town). After they start losing mail to the other towns with the same name, and enough people get lost, it hits folks that it’s a good idea to change names. My town changed its name about five times. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/11 "2008-07-01T20:50:26Z")
There is a LaDue and a Ladue in Missouri. Ladue is a suburb of St. Louis. The town has its own Zip Code, but the mailing address is St. Louis. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/12 "2008-07-01T22:34:04Z")
I work with Geographic Information Systems, so this type of thing comes up for me in my work quite often. The thing is, there are different KINDS of names of towns, for different purposes. For example, there are postal names, used by the USPS, there are official names, which is what the official name of the city is, and there are neighborhood names. These may or may not be the same. The USPS requires that there are not duplicate postal names within the same state. To give a couple of examples that come to mind: The name “Brentwood” exists twice in California: Once as a postal name (and an official name of the same town, I believe), and a second time as a neighborhood name (part of Los Angeles). The name “Studio City” exists as a postal name and a neighborhood name, but it is not an official name. (It is part of Los Angeles). What name to use depends on what you want to use it for. The USPS greatly recommends you use postal names for all mail. But computer mapping systems often expect people to use official names or even neighborhood names when looking up a business location. Ed ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/13 "2008-07-01T22:38:11Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] There are at least two Springfields in Pennsylvania. [/QUOTE] Both in the Philadelphia area, adding to the confusion – one is in Delaware County, and the other is in Montgomery County, and they are usually so specified. ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/14 "2008-07-01T23:26:37Z")
There are 3 towns named Mt. Gilead in NC; all of them in the Piedmont region. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/15 "2008-07-02T00:54:01Z")
During the growth of the USA the postal authority often changed the name of a new town. Reasons being it was a duplicate, they thought it was to much like another name, and lastly they didn’t like it for no particular reason. They often couldn’t read the writing on the application for a post office and the town was named something nobody intended. You’ll see this if you get hold of one of those books for how each town in a state got their names. You can find archival newspaper accounts that will list how towns got their names too. Reading these books can be very entertaining. [Poynette](http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=3779&term_type_id=2&term_type_text=places&letter=P) Wisconsin was meant to be Paquette. > [@](#): > > Definition: J.D. Doty laid out a village called Paquette in honor or Peter Paquette, a Native American trader and interpreter, but through a clerical error in the U.S. Post Office department, the post office there was called “Poynette.” [Rio](http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=3816&term_type_id=2&term_type_text=places&letter=R) Wisconsin was meant to be Ohio. By the way it’s pronounced Rye-oh. > [@](#): > > Definition: Most of the land in Columbia County was settled between 1844 and 1864. This was part of the area known as the Ohio Settlement because most of the settlers came from that state. About 1852 Delos Bundy built a roadhouse, known as the Ohio House, northwest of the present village of Rio. Bundy also secured an appointment as postmaster, and requested the post office be named Ohio. When he received his commission the name appeared as Rio. The change may have come about from illegibility or careless reading of the word. Those two links are to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s section where you can find information on how towns in Wisconsin got their names. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/16 "2008-07-02T01:03:02Z")
There were five Washington Townships in New Jersey. One recently changed its name. Now the Mercer County Washington Twp is officially called Robinsville (after its largest section). Now there are only four so that clears up the confusion. I know there are three Franklin Townships and I may have forgotten one. There is also some confusion with towns that have the same name but different designations like Raritan Township and Raritan Boro. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/17 "2008-07-02T01:27:46Z")
There are two Greenports in New York State – one on [Long Island](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenport%2C_Suffolk_County%2C_New_York), the other on the [Hudson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenport%2C_Columbia_County%2C_New_York). Before zip codes, you generally added “Long Island” to the address of the Long Island one, but a lot depended on where you were sending from. I could address things to Greenport, NY and it would go to the next town over. Likewise, letters sent from upstate would probably go to the upstate Greenport. It probably caused some confusion, but if a letter went to the wrong one, the street names would be wrong and the postmaster would then forward it to the right one. ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/18 "2008-07-02T02:23:56Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] There is a LaDue and a Ladue in Missouri. Ladue is a suburb of St. Louis. The town has its own Zip Code, but the mailing address is St. Louis. [/QUOTE] Actually, the first one is “La Due” (two words) located in the western-central part of the state. “Ladue” is a city that is a part of St. Louis County. It is not located in St. Louis proper. It’s proper address (according to the town’s [official website](http://www.cityofladue-mo.gov/) is indeed, Ladue, MO and not St. Louis, MO. This is the town some snarky locals refer to as ‘Lah-de-due’ (very high income, old money area.) It is local custom for the residents of the many various cities that make up St. Louis County to use “St. Louis, MO” as the city/state in the mailing address, and the post office will even deliver it so long as the zip code is correct, but properly the only town that really is ‘St. Louis, MO’ is the City of St. Louis. (Which is not part of St. Louis County, but a seperate city all its own. It’s an odd situation that I’ve heard rumored is duplicated nowhere else in the country) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/19 "2008-07-02T06:19:30Z")
[QUOTE=GythaOgg] properly the only town that really is ‘St. Louis, MO’ is the City of St. Louis. (Which is not part of St. Louis County, but a seperate city all its own. It’s an odd situation that I’ve heard rumored is duplicated nowhere else in the country) [/QUOTE] Fairfax, VA is situated smack in the middle of Fairfax County, VA and has the county courthouse. However, the city of Fairfax is an independent city and is not part of the county. That’s because in Virginia, “cities” are all independent and don’t belong to counties. Municipalities that are included in counties are called “towns.” ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917/20 "2008-07-02T12:34:37Z")
Once Portage Wisconsin was in Portage county, until the county was split in two. Now the city of Portage is in Columbia county and Portage county has no city of Portage. It makes web searches hard, especially when it comes to government searches. Try finding county services for the town of Portage. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/town-names-not-duplicated-within-us-state-how-enforced/454917.md?page=2)