Motor Towns: The Name Stories Behind Cars, Tires and Racing

13 storiesChecked Oct 31, 2026

The first Indianapolis 500 ran on May 30, 1911, and the city in its name got that name back in 1821, from a motion that made the Indiana House laugh. That’s the catch with car country. You might come for a speedway, an old plant or a car museum, but every name on this page is older than the automobile.

And none of the names says “car.” Some come from water: a French word for a strait, a river, a creek. Some honor people, from a Greek general and a queen to a surveyor who spelled his name with an extra a and a Miami man whose name still starts arguments. A couple reach for Greek, one borrowed a city in Spain, and one came west with settlers from their hometown in New York. Akron got a Greek word for high, picked for the top of a canal, decades before Goodyear helped make it the “Rubber Capital of the World,” as an Ohio marker puts it.

This page is for you if you’re planning a trip around cars, tires or racing and want the story behind the place on the sign. Each stop has a short note on its motor history, with a source, and links to the full story of its name, so you can check every detail yourself.

How we picked these. The city has a documented part in the history of the automobile, tires or auto racing, shown by an official source (the National Park Service, a state historical marker, a city or state agency) or a serious encyclopedia or archive. Each story below lists the source that confirms it.

  1. Wayne County, MI

    Detroit, Michigan: A City Named After Its River

    Detroit, Michigan, took its name from the river, and the river got it from French explorers who called it a détroit, a strait.

    Documented

    The Park Service's MotorCities heritage area says metro Detroit switched from building cars to war materials in World War II. Source: MotorCities National Heritage Area (U.S. National Park Service)

  2. Washtenaw County, MI

    Ypsilanti, Michigan: The Greek Name That Beat Waterville

    Ypsilanti, Michigan, came close to being called Waterville. A territorial judge wanted to honor a Greek general instead, and in 1825 his choice won.

    Documented

    The Park Service lists the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum among the historic sites of the MotorCities heritage area. Source: MotorCities National Heritage Area (U.S. National Park Service)

  3. Ingham County, MI

    Lansing, Michigan: The Capital Once Called Michigan

    For its first months as the capital, Lansing, Michigan, was officially the Town of Michigan. Its real name came from New York, by way of a paper town.

    Documented

    Ransom E. Olds set up his Reo car plant in Lansing in 1904. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1978 and was torn down by 1980. Source: Reo Motor Car Company Plant (U.S. National Park Service)

  4. Kalamazoo County, MI

    How Kalamazoo, Michigan Got Its Name (It Used to Be Bronson)

    Kalamazoo, Michigan, was called Bronson, after its first settler, until the Legislature swapped his name for the river's in 1836.

    Documented

    The Checker cab company moved to Kalamazoo in 1923 and built its last Checker cab there on July 12, 1982. Source: Checker Motors Corporation (Western Michigan University Archives)

  5. Lucas County, OH

    Who Named Toledo, Ohio? Four Claims, One Spanish City

    Toledo, Ohio, is named for the old city in Spain, but at least four people have been credited with suggesting it, and the books don't agree on who.

    Disputed

    An Ohio marker says John North Willys consolidated his car production in Toledo in 1908, and the company's best-known product is the Jeep. Source: Willys-Overland Finishing Plant (Ohio History Connection marker 67-48)

  6. Cuyahoga County, OH

    Cleveland, Ohio: The City That Lost the A in Cleaveland

    Cleveland, Ohio, is missing a letter: the surveyor it's named for, Moses Cleaveland, spelled his name with an a.

    Documented

    Winton, Baker and White led Cleveland's early rise in the auto industry, the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History says. Source: Automotive Industry (Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Case Western Reserve University)

  7. Summit County, OH

    Akron, Ohio: A Greek Name Picked to Beat a Pun

    General Simon Perkins wanted a name for his new canal town that a punning neighbor couldn't joke about, and Akron, Ohio, got a Greek word for high.

    Documented

    An Ohio marker says Goodyear grew with the young auto industry and helped make Akron the 'Rubber Capital of the World.' Source: Franklin Augustus "F.A." Seiberling and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (Ohio History Connection marker 23-77)

  8. Montgomery County, OH

    Dayton, Ohio: The Town That Was Almost Venice on the Tiber

    Before Dayton, Ohio, existed, land buyers planned a town called Venice on the same spot, and they meant to rename Mad River the Tiber.

    Documented

    Charles Kettering founded Delco in 1909 and developed the electric self-starter, first used in 1912 Cadillacs, a Dayton marker says. Source: Charles F. Kettering (Ohio History Connection marker 4-57)

  9. Howard County, IN

    Kokomo, Indiana: Black Walnut, Young Grandmother, or Diver?

    Kokomo, Indiana, carries the name of a Miami man, but the old books give at least three meanings for it and agree on none.

    Disputed

    A state marker in Kokomo says Elwood Haynes made the first test run of a car he designed and built here on July 4, 1894. Source: Haynes' Horseless Carriage (Indiana Historical Bureau marker)

  10. Marion County, IN

    Indianapolis, Indiana: The Name That Got a Laugh in 1821

    When Jeremiah Sullivan proposed the name Indianapolis for Indiana's new capital in 1821, the House laughed. Then it voted yes.

    Documented

    The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909, and the first Indianapolis 500 ran there on May 30, 1911. Source: The First 500 (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)

  11. Kenosha County, WI

    Kenosha, Wisconsin: Pike, Then Southport, Then Kenosha

    Kenosha, Wisconsin, went by Pike and then Southport for 15 years before it took the Indian name of its creek, a word said to mean pike.

    Documented

    Thomas Jeffery started building the Rambler in Kenosha in 1902, and car assembly in the city ended in 1988, Visit Kenosha says. Source: Kenosha Homecoming Car Show (Visit Kenosha)

  12. Mecklenburg County, NC

    Charlotte, North Carolina: A Queen's Name, Twice Over

    Charlotte, North Carolina, is named for a queen, and so is the county it sits in: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who married King George III in 1761.

    Documented

    The NASCAR Hall of Fame, which honors the history and heritage of NASCAR, stands in Uptown Charlotte. Source: NASCAR Hall of Fame (Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority)

  13. Greenville County, SC

    Greenville, South Carolina: Green Country, Green or Greene?

    Nobody has settled where the name Greenville, South Carolina, came from, and the old books don't even agree on whether it honors a person.

    Disputed

    Michelin opened its Greenville tire factory in March 1975 and moved its U.S. headquarters to Greenville in 1985. Source: Michelin (South Carolina Encyclopedia)

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