The Washington times., 1901-11-10
SOBRIQUEqS or CITIES.
How American Municipalities OBJ
tanned Striking Pseudonyms.
Pecuiinrities of Residents Used to
Designate n Town-The Part Play
ed by Location Two .Modern
Athensr-A Number of "Queen.o

| Number OF "Queens.0
Washington is now known as the Er-
ecutive City. nickname now more an
propriate than that bestowed on 1t by
Thomas Moore Of the City Of Mag
nificent Distances" or by Charles
Dickens. the City Of Magnificent In
| tentions." Nearly every large city in
this country has its pet name by which
1t Is often designated. New York, for
instance, is known as Gotham. a name
which was first bestowed on IL by
| Washington Irving and ]. K. PauIding
in their humorous work. "Salmagundi."
in sarcastic allusion to the wisdom OF
its inhabitants. There Is Gotham in
England, seven miles from Nottingham.
the people of which place are usually
styled The Wise Men of Gotham" The
exploit of three citizens of this en-
| lightened town going TO sea in a bowl
is familiar 70 all readers of that juye-
nile classic, Mother Goose's Tales"
The nickname. wise Men of Gotham"
has been applied for hundreds of years.
| it is said, in its ironical meaning, and
there is reference made in the Town
| Boston is commonly alluded to as the
Hub. or. in full, Hub of the Universe.
because it is said to be the social centre
of the United States, just as the hub
| is the centre of a wheel. The origin of
| the expression is said to be in the writ
| ings of DR.. Oliver Wendell Holmes,
| who, in one of his books, alludes to
! the State House at Boston as the hub
of the solar system" Boston is also
called the American Athens. the Mod
ern Athens, and the Athens OF America.
in virtue of its Importance as the chief
seat of learning in the New World.
Lowell, Mass. bears the name of the
Spindle City, from its numerous cotton
mills which employ no fewer than $1,000
operatives. Philadelphia is as the Greek
name implies the City of Brotherly
Love; ii is also called the Quaker City,
because its founder, William Penn, and
his followers were Quakers. Several
years before Penn's arrival a band of
Swedes had-in furtherance of the long
cherished plan of their hero king,
Gustavus Adolphus, to found on the
banks of the Delaware a colony where
every man should have enough to eat.
and liberation to worship God as he
chose"-formed a settlement on the
banks of that river, and nominally took
possession of the land from Trenton
Falls to Cape May. But there proved
to be room for Penn's followers, too;
and finding how well the Lutherans
and the Quakers lived together, the city
laid out in 1888 was given the name of
philadelphia.
Baltimore is styled the Monumental
City, on account of its many fine mon
uments; Brooklyn is the City of
Churches, and New Orleans is called
the Crescent City from its shape. The
name of the Cream City has been given
to Milwaukee owing to a popularity OF
the local clay, which causes the bricks
of which the city generally is built
when burned, to come out cream-col-
ored.
Chicago has several other names
One of these, and not the most poetic,
is Porkopolis. literally the Pork CITY,
in alIusion to its extensive pork-pack-
ing industry-a name also applied to
Cincinnati Chicago is called the Windy
City from the fierceness of its BOrean
blasts, especially in winter. 1t Is further
styled the Garden City. by reason Of
the number, extent and beauty cf>{ts
public parks and gardens Springfield.
H., distinguished for It's broad and
shady avenues, is designated the Flow
er City; just as Cleveland is appropri-
ately called the Forest City, from the
thrust themselves upon the view. In
dianapolis is the Railroad City. Pitts
burg, renowned for its iron works. is
frequently spoken of as the Iron City.
Wheeling, w. Va, which takes the lead
in iron and steel manufactures, is the
Nail City; while Birmingham. Ala.
founded by the Elyton Land Company
in 1871 bids fair to become the greatest
metal working centre in the world, and
therefore justifies its title, the Magic
City of the South.
The city of Nashville, Tenn, is known
as the Athens of the South from the
number of educational institutions, sew
eral of them designed for the negro
race. Nashville is also known as the
City of Rocks. New Haven, Conn, is
the City of Elms. st. Louis is known
as the Mound city. from the number
of artificial mounds, corresponding TO
British tumuh or burrows. upon which
the city stands.
Detroit is termed the City of the
Straits. Louisville is called the Falls
City, because that portion of the Ohio
which it overlooks has a descent of
twenty-six feet in two miles the steam
boats avoid the rapids by means of a
canal constructed in 1861 Cincinnati
is variously styled the Queen City, the
Queen City of the West, and the Queen
of the West, from its magnificent sit
uation, noble architectural features. and
beautiful parks and gardens
The high-so;indiiIlg tile OF the Zenith
City of the United States has been con-
terred upon Duluth. MINI. situated at
the western extremity OK the Great
Lakes, and to which all the rail-
roads traversing the rich prairie
States converge. The beautiful city OF
Buffalo bears the name Df the Queen
City of the Lakes; while Regina, in
the Northwestern plains, is aptly
termed the Queen City of the Plains.
Knoxville, Tenn, is the Queen City
of the Mountains. SO called from its
position on the hills over
the Upper Tennessee River.
Atlanta is called the Gate City, because
il lies in the cotton belt between the
Great West and the Atlantic Coast
Keckuk. Ia, situated at the foot of the
lower rapids of the Mississippi, thus