July in Town Name History

What happened in July, year after year, in the stories behind 43 American place names. Every line comes from the "Key dates" of one of our articles, and each article lists its sources. Dates are the ones the sources give.

July 1

  • 1860Pueblo, CO: The new town is laid out and named Pueblo in honor of the old fort.
  • 1923Oklahoma City, OK: The post office finally becomes Oklahoma City.

July 2

  • 1542California: The journal of Cabrillo's voyage mentions California as if everyone knew the name.
  • 1672Lewes, DE: A land grant at the Horekill describes the land as called "Lewes."
  • 1791Knoxville, TN: The treaty with the Cherokees is held on the ground where the town is laid off.

July 3

  • 1787Parkersburg, WV: Virginia issues Alexander Parker's land patents.
  • 1890Idaho: Idaho becomes a state.

July 4

  • 1786Portland, ME: The legislature makes the Neck a town "by the name of Portland."
  • 1788Olympia, WA: Captain John Meares sees the mountain and names it Mount Olympus.
  • 1797Elizabethtown, KY: The court makes it official, and the lots are "known by the name of Elizabethtown."
  • 1800Indiana: The act creating Indiana Territory takes effect, with its capital at Vincennes.
  • 1864Ames, IA: The railroad that became the Chicago & North Western reaches Nevada, the county seat.
  • 1876Helena, MT: Judge Cornelius Hedges complains people now say Hel'-e-na instead of He-le'-na.
  • July 1857Beatrice, NE: The town is named in honor of Julia Beatrice Kinney, then 17.

July 5

  • 1869Fort Collins, CO: The county commissioners start dating their records "Fort Collins."

July 6

  • 1881Aberdeen, SD: The first train rolls in on the Milwaukee Road's new tracks, and the town beside them is named Aberdeen.

July 7

  • 1863Boise, ID: The town by the new army post is laid out and named Boise City.
  • 1893Kellogg, ID: The original plat is filed. Hawley says the name became Kellogg the next year.

July 9

  • 1577Delaware: Thomas West, later the third Lord De la Warr, is born.

July 10

  • 1890Wyoming: Wyoming becomes a state.

July 11

  • 1883Gene Autry, OK: A post office opens as Lou, in the Chickasaw Nation.

July 12

  • 1630Hoboken, NJ: A deed signed at Fort Amsterdam records the land as "Hobocan-Hacking."

July 13

  • 1920Lahaina, HI: A Star-Bulletin article gives two versions of "How Lahaina Got Its Name."

July 14

  • 1598Taos, NM: Oñate visits. The name Taos first appears in the documents, and he applies the saint name San Miguel.
  • 1729Baltimore, MD: A petition asks for a town on the north side of the Patapsco.

July 16

  • 1882Livingston, MT: A contractor's agent and George H. Carver pitch the first tent on the site.

July 18

  • 1881Pocatello, ID: An agreement letting the railroad cross the Fort Hall Reservation mentions "Pocatello Station."
  • 1945Lake Tahoe: A new law says the lake "shall be known as Lake Tahoe."

July 19

  • 1853St. Cloud, MN: John L. Wilson pays $250 for the land where downtown St. Cloud now stands.

July 20

  • 1804Weeping Water, NE: William Clark writes that the French call the creek "the Water Which Cry's."

July 21

  • 1804Plattsmouth, NE: Lewis and Clark reach the mouth of the Platte.

July 22

  • 1847Salt Lake City, UT: The first pioneer company is camped in the valley.

July 23

  • 1850Stockton, CA: A petition to the Court of Sessions makes Stockton the town's official name.

July 24

  • 1701Detroit, MI: Cadillac's party arrives and builds Fort Pontchartrain, named for France's minister of marine.

July 25

  • 1868Wyoming: President Andrew Johnson signs the act creating the territory of Wyoming.

July 26

  • 1637New Haven, CT: John Davenport, Theophilus Eaton and their company land at Boston.
  • 1843St. Joseph, MO: Robidoux's chosen plat, named St. Joseph, is recorded in St. Louis.
  • 1865Casper, WY: Lt. Caspar Collins is killed near Platte Bridge. On November 21, the post is renamed for him.

July 27

  • 1715Mobile, AL: A priest baptizes a man as Jean Louis Mauvila, "of the Mobilian nation."
  • 1842Alabama: The Jacksonville Republican prints the oldest "Here We Rest" that Owen could find.
  • 1894Pawhuska, OK: The last White Hair dies near the Gray Horse trading post.

July 30

  • 1602Hartford, CT: Samuel Stone is baptized at All Saints' Church in Hertford, England.
  • 1863Pocatello, ID: A treaty is signed at Box Elder with the northwestern bands of Shoshone, Pocatello's people.

July 31

  • 1769Wilkes-Barre, PA: The earliest written use of "Wilkesbarre" that Harvey found, on a Susquehanna Company receipt.
  • July 1854Lawrence, KS: The first free-state party pitches 25 tents on Mount Oread.