# U.S. Cities named after Chemical Elements **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 21, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815 "2002-08-21T00:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![djbdjb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@djbdjb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djbdjb)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/1 "2002-08-21T00:30:14Z")
I recently went on a trip to Missouri and found Lithium, Mo. on a map. Flying home, I looked at a SD map and saw Lead SD, and then found Radium, KS. Now after several hours using Mapquest, I have a pretty full list for the U.S. I also looked in an Atlas and found Tungsten N.W.T, and Uranium City Sask in Canada. Are there any in other countries that I have missed? I have included some cities where the name is not just the element, but the element and another word such as Tellurium Creek, CO, but I have not included all such things that I found. I particularly like the fact that it is about 60 miles from Neon, KY to Krypton, KY. Why there isnt an Argon on the road between I don’t know. * * * Helium Monument, TX Lithium, MO Boron CA Carbon: Il, OK,ia, in, pa, wy neon: ky sodium: wy Aluminum Pond, NY Sulfur Creek, CA, US Sulfur Creek, FL, US Sulfur Creek, OK, US Sulfur Creek, TX, US Sulfur Lick, KY, US Sulfur Mine Hill, TX, US Sulfur Run, WV, US Calcium, NY Titanium Reach, NJ Vanadium, CO, NM Manganese, MN Iron, IL Cobalt, CT, ID Nickel, LA,TX Copper, OR Zinc, AR Arsenic Creek, MT, US Arsenic Lake, CO, US Arsenic Mountain, MT Krypton, KY Molybdenum Mountain, AK Silver, TX, AR, SC Tin City, NC, Tin Town, MO, Antimony, UT Tellurium Creek, CO, US Tellurium Lake, CO, US Tellurium Peak, OR, US Iodine Creek, ID, US Iodine Lake, WI, US Iodine Prairie, CA, US Barium Springs, NC Tungsten, CO, Boulder, US Tungsten, MT, Granite, US Tungsten, NC, Vance, US Tungsten, NV, Pershing Platinum, AK Gold, PA, Potter, US Gold, NC, Burke, US Mercury, NV, Nye, US Mercury, TX, McCulloch, US Mercury, AL, Madison, US Lead, SD Radium, CO, Grand, US Radium, KS, Stafford, US Radium, MN, Marshall, US Radium, AZ, Gila, US Radium, TX, Jones, US Radium, VA, Greensville, US Uranium Peak, CO Uranium city sask. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/2 "2002-08-21T00:41:43Z")
Salt Lake City. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/3 "2002-08-21T00:48:37Z")
Wow, that’s cool. I’m not sure how I’d feel living in Arsenic Creek, though… ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/4 "2002-08-21T01:00:12Z")
Off the top of my head: Silver Spring, MD Leadville, CO Golden, CO, home of Coors (blech) brewery There’s also Wuxi (pronounced woo-shi), China, which my guidebook says means “no tin” – apparently the place used to be a tin mine, and then was named “no tin” when the stuff ran out. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/5 "2002-08-21T01:36:59Z")
On the flip side, the element Berkelium was named for Berkley, CA. If you live in Berkley, you can give most of your address with elements: Berkelium, Californium, Americium. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/6 "2002-08-21T03:28:06Z")
Uravan, CO (uranium and vanadium) near Vanadium, CO ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/7 "2002-08-21T03:46:03Z")
Sulphur Springs, Texas [http://www.tourtexas.com/sulphursprings/sulphursprings.html](http://www.tourtexas.com/sulphursprings/sulphursprings.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/8 "2002-08-21T03:53:52Z")
Sulphur, Louisiana ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/9 "2002-08-21T03:59:39Z")
It’s not an element, but my favorite was always: \*Intercourse, PA \* I’m already planning a summer vacation there. 😃 Tripler Oh the sights I could see. . . ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/10 "2002-08-21T04:38:49Z")
> [@](#): > > If you live in Berkley, you can give most of your address with elements: Berkelium, Californium, Americium. When the IAU took the unprecedented step of naming an element after the then-living Prof. Glenn Seaborg of the Lawrence Labs in Berkeley, for a while he was the only person in the world who could write his address in chemical elements: Seaborgium Lawrencium Berkelium Californium Americium ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/11 "2002-08-21T04:41:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Salt Lake City And there’s an Alkali Flats nearby, isn’t there? How about something with “acid” in it? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/12 "2002-08-21T04:43:04Z")
I meant American Chemical Society, of course. _doh_ ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/13 "2016-02-05T04:15:02Z")
Someone linked to this zombie thread, so I figured I’d do a bit of thread necromancy to contribute an article I wrote for Word Ways magazine way back in the 90s: [The Chemistry of Placenames](http://www.google.com/url?q=http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D4157%26context%3Dwordways&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjWufPM3t_KAhUM7SYKHb4cCrMQFgghMAI&usg=AFQjCNEaMSK7mdlBDGdaG3TPg1sVMfb8Tg) (pdf) ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/14 "2016-02-05T07:14:02Z")
**Nitro, West Virginia** is named for nitroglycerin, if the [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitro,_West_Virginia) is to be believed. (Not exactly what the OP is asking for, but close enough to merit mention.) My father was born there, and I’ve visited several times over the years. Smells like a chemical factory (of which there are many in the area) most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/15 "2016-02-05T08:19:47Z")
Ironton, OH ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/16 "2016-02-05T12:12:50Z")
Not quite what the OP wanted but Strontium is named after [Strontian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strontian) in the N.W. of Scotland, where it was first discovered and mined. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/17 "2016-02-05T13:25:50Z")
I love the way “Molybdenum Mountain, AK.” rolls off the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/18 "2016-02-05T13:38:02Z")
Silver City, NM ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/19 "2016-02-05T14:16:44Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Someone linked to this zombie thread, so I figured I’d do a bit of thread necromancy to contribute an article I wrote for Word Ways magazine way back in the 90s: > > [The Chemistry of Placenames](http://www.google.com/url?q=http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D4157%26context%3Dwordways&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjWufPM3t_KAhUM7SYKHb4cCrMQFgghMAI&usg=AFQjCNEaMSK7mdlBDGdaG3TPg1sVMfb8Tg) (pdf) Nice article, Dan. There is at least one other allotrope of oxygen besides Ozone TN. If you drive 1,100 miles WSW from Ozone TN you will arrive at Ozona TX. I’ve always said the longest day of my life was driving east to west across Texas on I-10 in 1983. That was back in the days of the Double Nickel. Hell On Earth was 850 miles of bleak Texas at 55 mph on a hot day and no A/C in my car. I was driving the entire length of I-10, Fla to Cal, on my return on a cross-country road trip. Very late at night, around 2AM, I crossed the LA-TX state line and soon hit the heaviest rain ever in my life (besides a monsoon in the Philippines one year). The rain was so thick and heavy I could barely see beyond the nose of my car in the dark. At times I had to crawl at 10 mph just to pick up the white lines in my headlights. That rain was something else! Welcome to Texas. Early dawn was dry in Houston. Just keep driving, stop only for gas or nature calls. After 300 miles of I-10 I was in San Antonio, and after San Antonio it was 550 miles of **NOTHINGNESS** until you get to the west end of Texas, El Paso. In the middle of that nothingness is Ozona. I stopped quickly for gas and continued on, but I have always remembered that interesting name, Ozona ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815/20 "2016-02-05T15:16:35Z")
I take issue with the inclusion of Lead, SD on this list. Lead, SD is pronounced “leed” and refers to a mining lead in general, not to the element lead. There is a town called Leadville in Colorado which I believe is pronounced like, and named for, the element, but I’m not certain about that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-named-after-chemical-elements/124815.md?page=2)