I wonder.
There are three cities called Kennedy, in Alabama, Minnesota, and California. Couldn’t tell you if they got that name prior to or after the President’s death.
Harrison, Idaho was named in honor of president Harrison (1889-93).
The name of Cleveland, Ohio predates Grover (1893-97).
Counties are tough, because there haven’t been but a handful created since about 1920. I’m pretty sure the last President to make the cut was Roosevelt–Theodore, not Franklin, who has a county named in his honor in New Mexico.
I would wager my house that the Alabama town was not named after any of the Kennedy clan based in Massachusetts. I won’t extend the wager for the other states.
Kennedy, MN established 1889.
It looks like the California Kennedy was named after an agriculturalist/banker who married the grandaughter of the founder of Stockton - no hard cite for this, just inference.
And is named after Moses Cleaveland, not the president (though it’s spelled like the president).
Roosevelt Utah; after Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909.
Taft (formely Moron) California; after William Taft, 1909-1913.
There’s a Hooverille in New Mexico, as well as one in Pennsylvania. Perhaps these are leftovers from the great depression?
It is not shockingly looking as though the cutoff date might end up roughly coinciding with the closing of the frontier and adding/carving up of additional states, ca. 1900.
(That is leading me to think of hijacking my own thread and wondering how many pre-1900 Presidents didn’t end up with something named after them).
I believe that Rutherford B. Hayes has no county or city named after him – in the US. However, there is a city and a department (more than a county, less than a state) named after him in Paraguay.
Yahoo maps lists no town named Buchanon (1857-61).
Cape Kennedy was a post office address for a substantial period, though I don’t believe there was a municipality with that name. (It’s now the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral; the nearby residential/tourist communities are Titusville, Jupiter, and Cocoa/Cocoa Beach.) It was, of course, named after the late President, as were an inordinate number of things, but apparently no counties or towns, in the late 1963-64 period.
Truman City, Minnesota, was named after Truman Clark, son of a railroad magnate. However, there appears to be a Truman City, Missouri, which is a suburb of Kansas City (and hence nearby Independence). I was not, however, able to pin any cite site down indicating the provenance of the name, though HST does seem likely.
Johnson City, Texas, was named after LBJ’s father’s cousin, James Polk Johnson, who donated the land on which the town’s commercial district was founded.
Reagan, TN, is located where US-11 joins state routes 2 and 360 and Head of Creek Road. It appears, however, not to be a city on a hill. :dubious: No indication of the provenance of this name either.
An also-ran with some validation, though is Rooseveltown, NY.
You might have better luck if you checked the correct spelling (Buchanan).
But there are a number of places in the U.S. named Buchanan–which is a fairly common name, and I don’t know if any of them are named after President James Buchanan.
With minimal Wikipedia-ing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchanan_County%2C_Virginia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchanan_County%2C_Missouri
That’d do it. And there I was, blaming Lincoln for messing up his legacy.
Correction on the counties–New Mexico also created a county in 1921 and named it after Warren Harding. In fact, with counties named after McKinley, Roosevelt, and Harding, New Mexico logs three of the most contemporary entries.
There is at least one Hayes County, in Nebraska. In fact, there appears to be at least one county named after every pre-1900 President, with the possible exception of Benjamin Harrison, who had to compete with his illustrious forebears. There are a number of Harrison Counties, but I can’t find any named specifically after Ben.
Laughlin in the extreme southern tip of Nevada is named after (by) Don Laughlin, who is still alive.
doh…I didn’t read the question. Don Laughlin wasn’t a president, of course.