Who Was The Last U.S. President To Have A Town/County Named After Him?

[yabob]

Excuse me 1838, 41, 44. Duh. I don’t know why I kept typing 19!

[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.

The last President, Anson Jones, naturally had his term truncated by statehood.

[Bytegeist]

@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.

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…

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.

[mobo85]

@panache45

And is named after Moses Cleaveland, not the president (though it’s spelled like the president).

An old story says they took the “A” out so the city name could fit in in the top of a local newspaper.

[Freddy_the_Pig]

@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.

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!

[OneCentStamp]

@dtilque

TrickTrivia: What’s the largest city in the US named after a president?

If you disqualify Houston since Sam H. wasn’t a U.S. president, then it would be Washington, D.C.

[dtilque]

@OneCentStamp

If you disqualify Houston since Sam H. wasn’t a U.S. president, then it would be Washington, D.C.

Well, yes, but I carefully didn’t put <u>US</u> in front of the word <u>president</u> 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?

[cmkeller]

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.

[Polycarp]

@Huerta88

To date, this seems the winner to the OP question.

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?

[Colibri]

@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.

There is a suburb of Panama City named Torrijos-Carter, after the treaty. This I think would qualify.

[Huerta88]

@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.

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.)?

[Freddy_the_Pig]

@Huerta88

And what about my contra-OP – how many pre-1900 Presidents did not get any namesake “towns” or counties (in the U.S.)?

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.