State Capital Origins ~ Part Four

We've made it! Here is the final part of this blog series. The last twelve state capitals are within our grasp so to speak. It has been a long journey, especially if you were to take a road trip around each and every state capital, even more so if you did it in alphabetical order. If anyone wants to have a go through Google Maps, then be my guest, if I get a spare hour or two I may try and calculate the mileage myself. Would you include Honolulu though, as that can't be reached by road, nor can Juneau but I believe ferries are available. So take out those two and a road trip through the Lower 48 would be awesome, have to take plenty of tunes and snacks though.

Enough dreaming, let's get on with the first capital.....

On top of a building owned by a pest control company sits the "Big Blue Bug". The company changed it's name to Big Blue Bug Solutions after the 58ft long fibreglass termite gained a following around Providence. It was built in 1980 and was originally purple, but due to exposure to the sun, the paint faded and now it is repainted blue whenever it is needed. Purple was used initially because that is the colour a termite has under a microscope. Following a competition to find a name for the bug, it was named "Nibbles Woodaway". Nibbles is sometimes dressed up for special occasions, reindeer antlers for Christmas for example.

Providence is one of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the city in honour of "God's merciful providence" which he thought was responsible for bringing him to the area.

PROVIDENCE = NAMED AFTER "GOD'S MERCIFUL PROVIDENCE"

Between the North and Central Campuses of the North Carolina State University, there is a walkway that takes you through a tunnel beneath the railroad. This is called the Free Expression Tunnel, and students are allowed to adorn the walls with artwork, or graffiti as ever they see fit. The freedom was initiated in November of 1969 and the tunnel has been constantly overpainted ever since. The walls change almost daily as different students express their views. There is an agreement that the brick entrances are the limit to the allowance, and as such they remain graffiti free.

Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" due to the large number of oak trees that adorn the heart of  the city. Founded in 1792,and soon after the state capital was moved from Fayetteville to provide a more central location within the state. The city is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, a British explorer that founded the now lost Roanoke colony on Roanoke Island.

RALEIGH = NAMED AFTER SIR WALTER RALEIGH

A small part of the United Kingdom resides in a leafy neighbourhood of Richmond. Agecroft Hall is a Tudor building that was originally located in the English village of Agecroft, which is now part of the city of Salford, near Manchester. Initially built in the early 15th century, by the 20th century the building was unoccupied and in a state of disrepair. It was bought in 1925 by a Richmond entrepreneur and then dismantled, shipped across the Atlantic, and rebuilt in it's current location. It took around three years to rebuild and unfortunately the owner died just a year later. His will contained a clause however, that stipulated that upon his wife's passing or relocation, the house should become a museum.

The Richmond area was first settled by Europeans in the 17th century, although relations were strained with the local Native American residents. Following the decline of the indigenous population, a planter William Byrd II commissioned a new town in 1737. This town was to become Richmond. Byrd named the town after the English town of Richmond, now a part of London, on the River Thames. He thought that the curve of the James River reminded him of his former home in Richmond Hill, London.

Richmond, London was named after Richmond, Yorkshire, which was named after Richemont, France, which in Old French means "Strong Hill".

RICHMOND = NAMED AFTER RICHMOND, UK

An old sailors tradition states that it is bad luck to rename a ship. The current state of the Spirit of Sacramento would seem to be a confirmation of this tale. The paddle steamer was owned at one point by film actor John Wayne, yep, The Duke himself. He purchased the vessel in 1954 and was used in his film, Blood Alley, in 1955. It was then sold to various businessmen over the years and was used mainly as a pleasure boat for parties, a far cry from it's original use as a US Army snagboat that was used to clear blockages in rivers. Originally named Putah, it then became Chicu San in the film, and Mansion Belle afterwards before being named the Spirit of Sacramento. Unfortunately the Spirit then caught fire in 1996 and was subject to many attempts to be rebuilt, but by 2006 concerns about it's mooring place forced the decision to place the boat on land. It has been abandoned ever since.

In 1808, Spanish explorers encountered what is now known as the Sacramento Valley. One of the writers of the time wrote...

"Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current. Birds chattered in the trees and big fish darted through the pellucid depths. The air was like champagne, and (the Spaniards) drank deep of it, drank in the beauty around them. "¡Es como el sagrado sacramento! (It's like the Blessed Sacrament.)"

The settlement in the valley was named after "Most Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ," referring to the Catholic Eucharist,

SACRAMENTO = NAMED AFTER THE HOLY SACRAMENT

The creator of the Peanuts cartoon, Charles M. Shultz spent his childhood in Saint Paul. Following his death in 2000, many fibreglass statues of the Peanuts characters sprung up around St.Paul and it's twin city, Minneapolis, where Shultz was born. There were also bronze figures around Landmark Plaza and in the neighbouring Rice Park. The artworks were created by Tivoli Too in 2003. All of the Peanuts characters are represented.

The Dakota people called the area Imniza-Ska which translates to "White Cliffs" referring to the sandstone cliffs on the east side of the river. In the Menominee language St.Paul was called Sāēnepān-Menīkān, which means "ribbon, silk or satin village", however in the 1830's a settlement had developed that was called "Pig's Eye" after a fur trader and bootlegger known as "Pig's Eye" Parrant. In 1841, a Catholic missionary arrived and built a chapel that he called St.Pauls. He later convinced the settlement to rename Pig's Eye to Saint Paul, obviously in reverence to... well... Saint Paul !

SAINT PAUL = NAMED AFTER SAINT PAUL.

Just seven miles outside of Salem, in Turner, Oregon, is the Enchanted Forest Theme Park. It opened it's doors in 1971 after the owner, Roger Tofte, saw there was little for families to do in the nearby city of Salem. He based much of the theme park on fairy tales and carried out most of the work himself. There are lots of hidden gems in the theme park as well as the usual rides. Lookk closely and you'll find concrete artwork depicting things such as witches, mushrooms, an old womans shoe house and, of course, Humpty Dumpty welcoming you to the park. The music that plays around the park, as well as the Fantasy Fountains show that features 359 water jets, was composed by the owners daughter.

The Native American inhabitants called the area Chim-i-ki-ti, which means "meeting or resting place". However, there are three main theories as to the new name of the city. One is that it is an anglicized version of the Hebrew word Shalom, meaning "Peace". Another is that a Reverend on the town committee also wanted a biblical reference and suggested the last five letters of Jerusalem. A still further theory is that it is just named after Salem in Massachusetts, you know, the one with all the witches. Even now there are people that think the town should revert to a version of its original name of Chemeketa.

SALEM = PEACE (MAYBE)

You would have thought that the first KFC restaurant would have been in Kentucky, after all the clue s in the name right?. But you would be wrong, it is true that "Colonel" Harland Sanders is Kentucky born, however his restaurant in Kentucky was selling Southern Fried Chicken with his own famous blend of spices until the first franchise was opened at the Harman Café in Salt Lake City. The signwriter had the idea of calling the chicken "Kentucky Fried" instead of "Southern Fried" and the rest, as they say, is history. The Colonel and Harman remained friends and although the original café was demolished and rebuilt it is still billed as the World's First KFC!

Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, the leader of the Mormon pioneers, following their move westward to avoid persecution. Because the cities location was near to the Great Salt Lake it was called Great Salt Lake City. In 1868, the word Great was dropped from the name.

SALT LAKE CITY = NAMED AFTER GREAT SALT LAKE

The last thing you would expect to see in the deserts of New Mexico is a Blue Whale, nevertheless there is one here in Santa Fe. It isn't something conjured up by Douglas Adams in his book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", but a piece of art made up entirely of recycled plastic. The life sized, 82 foot long, Blue Whale is known as Ethyl, and is the creation of two San Francisco artists. It was named after its polyethylene body  to bring awareness to the negative impact plastics have on the environment. Originally built for the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, it was acquired by a Santa Fe based art collective and transported to the New Mexico desert.

The area around present-day Santa Fe was named Oghá P'o'oge by the Tewa people and means "white shell water place". It's Navajo name was Yootó meaning "bead and water place". In 1598. the Spanish arrived and the area was called Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico which when more formally named became  La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís which is Spanish for "The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi" which is strange because Assisi is in Italy, go figure! Santa Fe therefore translates to "Holy Faith"

SANTA FE = HOLY FAITH

There are many brass statues around the world that are considered lucky, in fact I wrote a blog about this very phenomenon back in 2022, you can read it HERE. (Sorry, shameless plug again). Back to Springfield, the one in Illinois, not the fictional one in the Simpsons that was named after the one in Oregon, that's where Matt Groening grew up, but is supposed to represent Anytown, USA. Anyway, back to the head of the 16th POTUS, it's by Abe's final resting place and apparently, if you rub his nose it will bring you good luck. Just be thankful that bronze statues can't sneeze!

Early settlers to the area named the town Calhoun after John C. Calhoun, the senator of South Carolina because of cultural ties to that state. By 1832, Calhoun (the senator, not the town) had fallen out of favour and the city was renamed Springfield. It is thought the name was suggested by the wife of the first settler, John Kelly, and derives from "Spring Creek" that ran through "Kelly's Field".

SPRINGFIELD = NAMED FROM SPRING (CREEK) AND (KELLY'S) FIELD

Way back in 1962, (the year of my birth incidentally, which is of no consequence, just saying), a tradition was started at FSU, or Florida State University, wherein the coach of the football team (American football, not the other that is often called soccer on the west side of the Atlantic) challenged the players during a pep talk to "bring back a "sod of earth" from the football ground at Georgia State". After a 18-0 victory the captain took him at his word and brought back a clump of grass and earth. The "sod" was given a ceremony, placed in a tiny coffin and planted on the practice field with a plaque. Thus a tradition was born and now a cemetery in memory of defeated opponents is part of the ground at FSU.

Indigenous peoples inhabited the area for thousands of years before encountering European settlers, the area was known as Anhaica by the Apalachee people. Indigenous travellers from Georgia and Alabama found the remains of the town abandoned after the Apalachee moved on. the named it Tallahassee which is a Muskogean word meaning "Old Fields" or more likely "Old Town"

TALLAHASSEE = OLD TOWN or OLD FIELDS, but probably OLD TOWN

Back at the turn of the century in 2000, Topeka resident, Ron Lessman, was ordered by council officials to clean up his land, well, what they actually said was "pick the trucks up", so that's exactly what he did. He buried the back of the trucks in the ground, filled the holes with concrete, and "Truckhenge" was born. Initially thought of by locals as an eyesore, it eventually grew on them and is now designated as an artwork. Lessman's farm is now home to more artwork, especially a structure known as "Beer Bottle City" made from found items that have been recycled. Although the farm is technically open to the public, if you contact Mr. Lessman first, he is willing to show you around and explain the exhibits.

As you have probably gathered, Topeka is a Native American name. It comes from the Kansa-Osage language and can be translated to "place where we dig potatoes". The founders of Topeka chose the name because of it's origins, it was a novel name, and it sounded nice.

TOPEKA = PLACE WHERE WE DIG POTATOES

In Trenton's Stacy Park, a short distance from the banks of the Delaware River is a small seemingly inconsequential bridge. However, this bridge is the work of John A. Roebling. "Whose that?" I hear you ask. Well he was the civil engineer that designed and built, amongst other things, the famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. The bridge was made as part of an exhibition showcasing his work in the 19th century and it was gifted to Trenton. It has been nicknamed the "Shaky Bridge" by locals due to the planks moving around when you cross the twenty foot span.

Trenton dates back to at least 1719, when it was mentioned in newspapers that a constable had been assigned to Trenton. The area was settled by Quakers in around 1679 and it is thought the town was named sometime between then and 1719. It was named originally Trent-towne after William Trent, one of the leading landowners and traders of the area. The name eventually morphed into Trenton.

TRENTON = NAMED AFTER WILLIAM TRENT (A TRADER AND LANDOWNER)

So there you have it, the final episode of the State Capitals blog series. A short series I grant you, but with only fifty states it was always going to be a poor relation to the world-wide Capital Cities blogs with almost 200 entries.

If we look through them, it seems that the majority are named after someone, whether still well-known or just famous at the time. Some are named after things, Baton Rouge and Little Rock for example. But my personal favourite has to be Topeka, "Place where we dig potatoes", brilliant! They should make more of this in their tourism brochures. I can't help but think that Topeka would be better placed in Idaho.

Anyway, what of the future? Well, I am making a blog with some of the world's capitals that have been missed. As you know, if you read my last blog, (If you didn't then shame on you! I don't mean that really, read them or not, to me it matters not. WOW, a poet and he doesn't even know it!) we will be starting in the Channel Islands of the United Kingdom, in Jersey. New Jersey to Jersey, seamless link I think (There I go with the rhymes again, putting Eminem in his place, eh), this rubbish isn't just thrown together you know!.

Until the next time my friends, さようなら、皆さん or just to make it easier for you....Sayōnara, minasan. That's minasan not minivan by the way. It's from the Land of the Rising Sun and means "Goodbye to you all"