October in Town Name History
What happened in October, year after year, in the stories behind 27 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.
October 1
- 1717New Orleans, LA: France names a storekeeper for the post "to be set up at New Orleans."
- 1796Cleveland, OH: Amos Spafford's first field map already spells it Cleveland, with no a.
October 2
- 1858Columbus, NE: The territorial legislature approves the act incorporating the town.
October 3
- 1732Georgia: 114 men, women and children have signed up for the first trip over.
October 5
- 1540Tulsa, OK: De Soto's army leaves Talisi, a town Swanton thought may be Big Tulsa.
October 8
- 1867Wyoming: People in Cheyenne choose J. S. Casement as their delegate to Congress.
October 10
- 1728Danville, VA: William Byrd's survey party crosses a river and calls it the Dan.
October 12
- 1870Greeley, CO: Horace Greeley visits the town and speaks about irrigation and farming.
October 15
- 1666Elizabeth, NJ: Samuel Pepys writes down Lady Carteret's complaints about the Court.
October 16
- 1827Scottsbluff, NE: A document lists Hiram Scott as a fur company employee owed wages.
- 1860Sedalia, MO: A new plat called Sedalia takes in all of Sedville.
October 17
- 1811Murfreesboro, TN: The legislature names seven commissioners to find a new county seat for Rutherford County.
October 18
- 1540Tuscaloosa, AL: The chief Tascalusa leads the fight against De Soto's army at Mabila.
- 1694Annapolis, MD: An act renames it the "Town and Port of Ann-Arundel."
- 1867Sitka, AK: Russia hands Alaska to the U.S. here, and the town is named Sitka.
- 1898Nome, AK: Miners organize the Cape Nome mining district. The camp is called Anvil City.
October 19
- 1864Ames, IA: The Ægis suggests calling the next depot "Ditto."
October 20
- 1790Hagerstown, MD: George Washington toasts "the inhabitants of Elizabeth-Town."
October 21
- 1780Montpelier, VT: The township is granted, with the name Col. Jacob Davis picked for it.
October 22
- 1794Fort Wayne, IN: After 15 rounds of cannon, Colonel Hamtramck names it Fort Wayne.
- 1836Houston, TX: Sam Houston, elected by a large majority, is sworn in as president.
October 24
- Oct. 1861West Virginia: Voters back the new state, 18,408 to 781.
October 25
- 1816Terre Haute, IN: The plat of the town of Terre Haute is recorded in Knox County.
October 26
- 1818Terre Haute, IN: The postmaster at Fort Harrison is told to move his office to "Terry Haut."
- 1880Fort Collins, CO: Col. William O. Collins dies.
October 28
- 1823Tallahassee, FL: Williams reaches the new Tallahassee village, then the old Tallahassee town.