September in Town Name History

What happened in September, year after year, in the stories behind 20 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.

September 1

  • 1671Charleston, SC: The earliest date McCrady gives for the name Charles Town actually being adopted.
  • 1801Grand Forks, ND: Alexander Henry sends John Cameron to start a post at "Grandes Fourches."
  • 1887Gene Autry, OK: Dresden becomes Berwyn.

September 3

  • 1793Barre, VT: A town vote lets the biggest donor to a meeting-house name the town, and it becomes Barre.
  • 1877Tombstone, AZ: McClintock says Ed Schieffelin records the Tombstone claim at Tucson.

September 6

September 7

  • 1565St. Augustine, FL: Menéndez anchors in the harbor of St. Augustine.
  • 1630Boston, MA: The colony's court, meeting at Charlestown, orders that Trimountain be called Boston.

September 8

  • 1565St. Augustine, FL: The general goes ashore with banners, trumpets and artillery salutes.
  • 1664New York: Stuyvesant marches out of Fort Amsterdam, and New Amsterdam becomes New York.

September 9

  • 1850California: California becomes a state.
  • Sept. 1854Lawrence, KS: A second party of 114 arrives on September 9, and the town association organizes that month.

September 10

  • 1885Kellogg, ID: N. S. Kellogg and Phil O'Rourke find the Bunker Hill. O'Rourke files the location on September 10.

September 11

  • 1775Spartanburg, SC: They get one, under Colonel John Thomas, and it's called the Spartan Regiment.
  • 1868Tacoma, WA: Philip Ritz arrives pushing the name. By late October, McCarver puts it to his partners.

September 15

  • 1842Nebraska: Frémont and his men drag their buffalo-hide boat over sandbars, then give up on the Platte.

September 19

  • 1733Richmond, VA: Byrd writes that he has laid the foundation of Richmond and Petersburg.

September 27

  • 1794Fort Wayne, IN: Wayne writes to Secretary Knox about the new fort where the rivers meet.

September 30

  • 1823Tallahassee, FL: John Lee Williams sets sail from Pensacola to look for a capital site.
  • 1844Casper, WY: Caspar Collins is born in Hillsboro, Ohio.
  • 1865Normal, IL: Residents vote to incorporate. The federal database dates the name to this year.