The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-11
CITIES AND THEIR NICKNAMEs.
An Interesting Peculiarly Of Amer
loan Centers Of Population.


BY the last Federal census OF ATS cities,
towns and villages in the United states
separately organized. only 124 had a pop
ulation in excess of 25.000. They were the
American cities, for usually place having
5000 or more inhabitants makes claim to
recognition as CITY" whereas a place
OF q smaller number Of Inhabitants Is
called (hough the residents don't always
agree In calling II SOY town" Every
one. or nearly every one, is familiar with
the designation Empire City as applied to
New York, Monumental City as applied
to Baltimore Elm City as applied to New
Haven, Quaker City as applied 10 Phila-
delphia, the City OF Churches as applied
to Brooklyn. Forest City as applied to
Cleveland. and Crescent City as applied to
New Orleans. but every one Is not famil-
lar With the fact that nearly ali OF the
other cities, claiming a population in. ex-
cess Of 5000. make claim to some distinct-
I've mark.
z Thus Denver, Col, has the distinction
OF having more bicycles In proportion to
population than any other city in the
United States--4O,O00 in city Of 10000. 1t
has come to be called In consequence. the
bicycle city. In similar fashion. though on
account of their manufacture and not
their use. Newark has come to be known
as the trunk city, or city of trunks; Provi-
idence 10 known as the jeweiry city, Lowell
as the city OF spindles, Lynchburg. Va. as
the tobacco city, Peoria as the distillery
city. Virginia City as the silver city. and
there has come recently to Leavenworth,
KAN. the seat of the United States mill
tary prison and of the Western Soldiers
Hor1H. a new distinction. not official but
agricultural, for 1t stands at the head OF
American cities In the shipment Of apples.
There are two cold storage plants in Leav-
s enworth. one of which is built to accom-
modate 5000 bushels of apples and the
other $4,000.
Joplin, No., has come to be known as
the zinc city, especially since the very ex-
tensive development OF zinc mines in the
neighborhood this year. and the extension
of the work of the smelter concern there
abouts. Louisville has long been known
as the falls city, Cincinnati as ''Porkopo-
iis." though Its Importance as a pork
packing city has been eclipsed by Chicago,
Omaha and Kansas City. and the distil-
elery interests OF Cincinnati are now very
much more important than are those con-
nected with pork packing. Wheeling, w.
Va, Is known as the glass city; Rochester,
formerly known as the flour city, has sur
rendered that distinction to Minneapolis;
Milwaukee is the beer city; st. Louis is
sometimes calied--erroneously, It's inhabi-
tants declare-the sauerkraut city; Elgin,
ILL.,. is the dairy city: South Bend, Ind,
the wagon city; Wilmington, DEL, the
match city; Wichita. Kan, the corn city;
Grand Rapids, Mich. the furniture city;
Elizabeth. N. J.. the sewing machine city;
Holyoke. Mass. the paper city; Haverhill,
Mass, the shoe city, q distinction which
Brockton and Salem dispute; Kalamazoo,
Mich, the celery city; BarreA Vt, the
granite city; GAINESVILLE, the brick city:
Paterson. N. J.. the silk city; Glovers-
VIII, ". Y. the glove city; Amsterdam,
N. Y. the carpet city: New Bedford. Mass,
the Goldfish city; Troy, N. Y, the nail city;
Danbury. Conn.,, the hat city; Napa, Cal,
the wine city. and Salem, Or, the hop
city. ~-'--Tri
The list might be extended almost in
definitely. for there are very few Ameri-
can cities which do not lay claim to at
least one distinction. though In the variety
of its claims New York, of course, stands
first. Among the large states. Illinois is
the one whose cities have fewest distinc-
items. VOW r''i -