Explore by theme

Planning a trip, or just curious? Pick a theme and see how the places along the way got their names. Every story is checked against the sources.

• Air & Space TownsFrom the Wright brothers' Dayton to NASA's Houston and the quiz-show town near Spaceport America, here's how America's air and space towns got their names.16 stories
• Beach & Island TownsNantucket was once Sherburne, Key West may echo Spanish Cayo Hueso, and Biloxi's namesakes called themselves Taneks. Here's where beach town names come from.12 stories
• Civil Rights Trail TownsSelma was named from a book of poetry and Tulsa for an old Muscogee (Creek) town. Here's where the names of cities on the civil rights trail came from.23 stories
• Forts & BattlefieldsTowns that grew up beside Army forts, and cities with battlefields, memorials and a naval academy, plus the stories of how each one got its name.23 stories
• Gold Rush & Mining BoomtownsLead rhymes with seed, Tombstone came from a grim warning, and Juneau won a miners' vote. Here's how America's gold and silver rush towns got their names.15 stories
• Motor TownsDetroit was named for a strait, Akron for a Greek word for high. Here are the car, tire and racing towns and where their names came from.13 stories
• Music TownsMemphis took its name from Egypt and Detroit from a French word for strait. Here's how the towns behind blues, jazz, country and rock got their names.21 stories
• National Park Gateway TownsFrom Nome to Key West, these are the towns the National Park Service points you to on the way into its parks, and here's where their names came from.35 stories
• Native Nations and Heritage TownsTowns where tribal governments have their address today, and towns next to mounds, pueblos and villages kept for their Native history, with the stories behind their names.20 stories
• Route 66 TownsFrom Chicago to Pasadena, the towns on old Route 66 got their names from Native words, Spanish faith, a duke, a general and a teachers' school.10 stories
• State CapitalsAustin was named before it had a site, Saint Paul started as Pig's Eye, and Lansing was once called Michigan. Here's where state capitals got their names.48 stories
• Towns Famous on ScreenBreaking Bad's Albuquerque, Gunsmoke's Dodge City, Bonanza's Virginia City: towns you know from the screen, and where their names really came from.18 stories
• Wild West TownsTombstone came from a grim warning, Cody from Buffalo Bill and Wichita from a wartime camp. Here's how the cowtowns and frontier towns got their names.14 stories