Now that I spend half my time in New England, I’ve gotten a chance to check the place out. The quaint little towns, the rocky coast, the fall colors … they’re all amazing.
One thing I did notice, though, is the place names are all the same. I swear that every state has an Amherst, or an Andover, or a Danbury …
Is it just me? Or is this a real pattern?
Methodology
- For each of the 6 NE states, get a list of all their towns
- Dump them in a spreadsheet
- Line up the names to see how many states actually do include each one
- List those names that have a majority of the states (i.e., 4, 5 or 6)
All 6 States
The only town that appears in all 6 states is Warren. Interestingly, this actually comes from 2 historical figures:
- Sir Peter Warren (NH & RI) – admiral in the Royal Navy (captured Louisbourg in the French & Indian War)
- Joseph Warren (ME, VT, MA, CT) – a Founding Father & Revolutionary War hero (he died at Bunker Hill)
And those dates point to when each town was founded, either in the mid or late 1700s. The towns range in population from 800 (NH) to 11,000 (RI).
Joe
5 States
The number of towns in each state range from 482 (ME) down to 39 (RI). Not too surprisingly, except for one, the towns in this section include every state except for dear ol’ Rhody.
Andover
Andoverians are copycats. Andover MA, which was founded in 1646, takes its name from Andover, England. Andover CT, which was founded almost 200 years later, makes the same claim. The rest of the Andovers are named after Andover MA.
Andover populations range from 570 (VT) to 36,600 (MA). Andover MA is known for Phillips Academy, one of the most famous prep schools around.
Chester
Sounds like our Chesters are all copies as well. First, we have 3 towns (CT, MA & ME) that are named after Chester, England. Chester VT is named after King George IV, one of whose titles as heir to the throne was Earl of Chester. Finally, Chester ME, is named after Chester NH.
Our Chesters date from 1722 (NH) to 1836 (CT). They range in size from 550 (ME) to 5,200 (NH)
Chester UK
Plymouth
More copycats. You can probably guess how these came about though.
First of all, we’ve got Plymouth MA, where the Pilgrims came ashore. They named their settlement after their last port of departure, Plymouth England.
The rest simply named themselves after the Massachusetts town. Plymouth VT, though, needs a special call out as being the birthplace, home & burial site of Calvin Coolidge.
That’s it?
Richmond
Richmond’s our odd man out. Instead of their being no Richmond in Rhode Island, it’s Connecticut that’s the state that got left out.
Another unusual feature is that our Richmonds have 4 different sources. Now, 3 of them are Dukes of Richmond. That, though, accounts for 2 different guys, Ludovic Stewart, the 1st Duke (ME), and Charles Lennox, the 3rd (MA & NH). The other Richmonds are after the city in England (VT), as well as some obscure Colonial pol named Edward Richmond (RI).
All of our Richmonds have over 1,000 people, with Richmond RI having 8,000. That town is also our oldest (1669), with Richmond ME being our youngest (1823).
The 3rd Duke, a big supporter of the Colonies
4 States
- Bridgewater – town in England (NH, MA), after Bridgewater MA (VT), descriptive (CT)
- Brookfield – descriptive (VT, MA), after Brookfield MA (NH), for Thomas Brooks, 1st minister (CT)
- Burlington – after Richard Boyle, 2rd Earl of Burlington (VT, CT), town in England (MA), after Burlington MA (ME)
- Canaan – land in Bible (ME, NH, CT), after Canaan CT (VT)
- Easton – descriptive: i.e., a “town to the east [of something]” (all)
- Goshen – land in Bible (MA, CT) after Goshen CT (NH, VT)
- Groton – town in England (MA, CT), after Groton MA (NH), unknown (VT)
Another well-known prep school
- Milford – descriptive (MA, NH), after Milford MA (ME), after town in England (CT)
- Newport – descriptive (RI, ME), after Henry Newport, 3rd Earl of Bradford (NH), unknown (VT)
- Pittsfield – after William Pitt, PM & friend of the colonies (MA, NH), after Pittsfield MA, unknown (ME)
Would you believe I’m actually related to this guy?
- Plainfield – descriptive (MA, CT), after Plainfield CT (NH), after Plainfield NH (VT)
- Randolph – after Peyton Randolph, 1st Pres. Of the Continental Congress (MA), after Randolph MA (ME), after Edmund Randolph, Founding Father (VT), after John Randolph, ant-Federalist politician (NH)
- Roxbury – from Roxbury MA, former town & now a Boston neighborhood (ME, VT), unknown (CT, NH)
- Salisbury – after city in England (MA), after Salisbury MA (NH), unknown (CT), after Salisbury CT (VT)
- Sharon – area in the Bible (MA, CT), after Sharon CT (NH, VT)
So, in other words:
- A town in MA (or, sometimes, CT) is named after a town in England, a place in the bible, or some English or Colonial dude
- The towns in the rest of the NE states are named after the town in MA (or, sometime, CT)
