# Who Was The Last U.S. President To Have A Town/County Named After Him? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638 "2006-05-21T15:47:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/41 "2006-05-22T17:54:17Z")
Excuse me **18** 38, 41, 44. Duh. I don’t know why I kept typing 19! ---
**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:** [May 22, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/42 "2006-05-22T19:02:13Z")
The Republic of Texas Constitution specified that the first term would be two years and all subsequent terms would be three years. Why they did that, I couldn’t say. The last President, Anson Jones, naturally had his term truncated by statehood. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/43 "2006-05-22T19:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] The Republic of Texas Constitution specified that the first term would be two years and all subsequent terms would be three years. **Why they did that, I couldn’t say.** [/quote] _People just liked it better that wayyyyy…_ > [@](#): > > The last President, Anson Jones, naturally had his term truncated by statehood. Poor guy. And according to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson_Jones)… > [@](#): > > Jones hoped that the new Texas state legislature would send him to the United States Senate. He was not chosen, and as time went on he became increasingly bitter about this slight. Although Jones prospered as a planter and eventually amassed an enormous estate, he was never able to get past the fact that Sam Houston was chosen over him to represent Texas in Washington, D.C. > > In 1857, Jones became convinced that the legislature would finally send him to the Senate, but he received no votes. He committed suicide on January 9, 1858. Of all the reasons I’ve heard proposed for ending one’s own life, being denied the opportunity to represent Texas in the Senate is among the least heart-tugging. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/44 "2006-05-22T20:16:40Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] And is named after Moses Cleaveland, not the president (though it’s spelled like the president). [/QUOTE] An old story says they took the “A” out so the city name could fit in in the top of a local newspaper. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/45 "2006-05-22T20:46:52Z")
[QUOTE=Bytegeist] Of all the reasons I’ve heard proposed for ending one’s own life, being denied the opportunity to represent Texas in the Senate is among the least heart-tugging. [/QUOTE] Yowza. That’s . . . weird. The freaky thing is, if he _had_ been elected to the Senate in 1857, his term would have been truncated by secession. The poor guy couldn’t hold a job! ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/46 "2006-05-22T22:48:22Z")
[QUOTE=dtilque] TrickTrivia: What’s the largest city in the US named after a president? [/QUOTE] If you disqualify Houston since Sam H. wasn’t a U.S. president, then it would be Washington, D.C. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/47 "2006-05-23T07:45:03Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] If you disqualify Houston since Sam H. wasn’t a U.S. president, then it would be Washington, D.C. [/QUOTE] Well, yes, but I carefully didn’t put \US\ in front of the word \president\ in order to make it a trick question. You know, one in which the obvious answer (Washington) is wrong. More Trivia: What’s the largest city named for a US president or vice president? And why hasn’t anyone suggested one of the many cities named Clinton as the answer to the OP? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/48 "2006-05-23T08:05:20Z")
Cool trivia question…until you asked it and I looked at the list of VPs, I never realized Dallas was named for a Vice President. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/49 "2006-05-23T13:45:47Z")
[QUOTE=Huerta88] To date, this seems the winner to the OP question. [/QUOTE] Well, you proposed the OP, so, subject to nitpickery and moderatorial fiat\*, you get to define the results. But the question was the last president to be namesake for a “town/county” – which to me means that _either_ municipal subdivision category will satisfy that question. I agree that Harding appears to have the last county title. But what specifically do you mean by “town” – “space-filling” county subdivision with municipal government, as in New England or New York? Municipality of smaller than city size, as in much of the South and Midwest? Inhabited place, whether incorporated as municipality or not, as in much of popular usage? The meaning you invested in the term is significant to the answer. - You would think the Reader would buy them better cars, wouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/50 "2006-05-24T04:14:03Z")
[QUOTE=bup] I disagree. The OP said town or county named after a US president. Presidente Kennedy, in Brazil is a town that meets the OP’s constraints. [/QUOTE] There is a suburb of Panama City named Torrijos-Carter, after the treaty. This I think would qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/51 "2006-05-24T04:44:17Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Well, you proposed the OP, so, subject to nitpickery and moderatorial fiat\*, you get to define the results. But the question was the last president to be namesake for a “town/county” – which to me means that _either_ municipal subdivision category will satisfy that question. I agree that Harding appears to have the last county title. But what specifically do you mean by “town” – “space-filling” county subdivision with municipal government, as in New England or New York? Municipality of smaller than city size, as in much of the South and Midwest? Inhabited place, whether incorporated as municipality or not, as in much of popular usage? The meaning you invested in the term is significant to the answer. [/quote] Hmm. In my heart of OP hearts, I meant, “incorporated, non-Glengarry-Glen-Ross subdivision, town, city, county, or other entity listed by the Census Bureau, in the U.S.” Which would exclude the (very interesting) examples given in Panama, the U.S.S. Reagan (also an astonishing entity/community), etc. So, do we end up at Harding for county, and perhaps FDR for town/township? And what about my contra-OP – how many pre-1900 Presidents did not get any namesake “towns” or counties (in the U.S.)? ---
**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:** [May 24, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638/52 "2006-05-24T14:26:00Z")
[QUOTE=Huerta88] And what about my contra-OP – how many pre-1900 Presidents did not get any namesake “towns” or counties (in the U.S.)? [/QUOTE] I can only answer the question for counties. I have no idea how one would go about canvassing the tens of thousands of towns, villages, and cities in the United States. The only pre-1900 presidents _not_ to have counties named after them are Andrew Johnson and Benjamin Harrison. There are eight Harrison Counties–none of them named for Benjamin: IA, IN, MS, OH–William Henry Harrison WV, KY–Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence and _father_ of William Henry MO–Congressman Albert Harrison TX–Soldier Jonas Harrison There are no less than 12 Johnson Counties, none of them named for Andrew: NE,MO,KY,IL,IA–Vice President Richard M. Johnson WY–Cheyenne attorney E.P. Johnson GA–Governor Hershel Johnson TX–Soldier Middleton T. Johnson KS–Rev. Thomas Johnson IN–Judge John Johnson AR–Judge Ben Johnson TN–Magistrate Thomas Johnson Johnson’s exclusion perhaps isn’t surprising; he was intensely unpopular in the West, which was the only part of the country still naming counties in his day. Harrison’s exclusion surprises me; a number of Western states were admitted during his presidency and he was reasonably popular there. But then, counties are often named when a state is still a territory. After Harrison, the pickings grow lean with the aforementioned exception of McKinley, Roosevelt, and Harding Counties in New Mexico. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-have-a-town-county-named-after-him/357638.md?page=2)