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© 1999, 2000, 2001 for NEGenWeb Project, T&C Miller
NEGenWeb Project
Resource Center OLLibrary
TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES xxv
NO. NAME OF STATE
DERIVATION OF NAME DATE OF ADMIS- SION BY WHOM SETTLED FIRST SETTLE MENT DATE OF SETTLEMENT SQUARE MILES POPULATION IN 1790 POPULATION IN 1920 1 DELAWARE
In honor of Lord Delaware
1787 Swedes Christiania, near Wilmington
1638 21050
50,996
223,003
2 PENNSYLVANIA
Name given by Charles II, -- mean- ing "Penn's woods
1787 English Philadelphia
1683 45,215
434,373
8,720,017
3 NEW JERSEY
In honor of Sir George Carteret, governor of the British island of Jersey
1787 Dutch Bergen
1617 7,815
184,139
3,155,900
4 GEORGIA
In honor of George II
1788 English Savannah
1733 59,475
82,548
2,895,832
5 CONNECTICUT
From the Indian, -- "long river"
1788 English Wethersfield
1634? 4,990
238,431
1,380,631
6 MASSACHUSETTS
From the Indian, -- "the great hills" -- from the Blue Hills near Boston
1788 English Plymouth
1620 8,315
378,717
3,852,356
7 MARYLAND
In honor of Queen Henrietta Maria,
wife of Charles I1788 English St. Mary's
1634 12,210
319,728
1,449,661
8 SOUTH CAROLINA
In honor of Charles II; derived from
Carolus, the Latin for Charles1788 English Old Charleston?
1670? 30,570
249,073
1,683,724
9 NEW HAMPSHIRE
Named by John Mason, in remem-
brance of Hampshire, England1788 English Dover?
1627? 9,305
141,899
443,083
10 VIRGINIA
In honor of Queen Elizabeth, the
Virgin Queen1788 English Jamestown
1607 42,450
748,308 including W.Va.
2,309,187
11 NEW YORK
In honor of the Duke of York, who
became James II1788 Dutch Fort Orange (Albany)
1624 49,170
340,120
10,384,829
12 NORTH CAROLINA
In honor of Charles II; derived from
Carolus, the Latin for Charles1789 English Albemarle.
1663? 52,250
393,751
2,559,123
13 RHODE ISLAND
Either from a fancied resemblance
of the island of Rhode Island to
the Isle of Rhodes in the Mediter-
ranean, or from the Dutch Rood
or Red Island1790 English Providence
1636 11250
69,110
604,397
xxvi
LEADING FACTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY
NO. NAME OF STATE
DERIVATION OF NAME DATE OF ADMIS- SION BY WHOM SETTLED FIRST SETTLEMENT DATE OF SETTLEMENT SQUARE MILES POPULA-TION IN 1790 POPULATION IN 1920 14 Vermont
From the French, -- "green moun-
tains"1791 English Fort Dummer (near Brattle- borough)
1724
9,565
85,416
352,428
15 Kentucky
From the Indian, -- "at the head
of a river"; or meaning, accord-
ing to other authorities, the
dark and bloody ground1792 English Harrodsburg
1774
40,400
73,077
2,416,630
16 Tennessee
From the Indian, -- "river of the
big bend"1796 English Watauga
1769
42,050
35,791
2,337,885
17 Ohio
From the Indian, -- " beautiful,"
or "beautiful river"1803* Americans Marietta
1788
41,060
5,759,394
18 Louisiana
From the French, -- in honor of
Louis XIV of France1812 French About 38 miles
below New
Orleans1700
48,720
1,798,509
19 Indiana
From the word "Indian"
1816 French Vincennes . . .
1702
36,350
2,930,390
20 Mississippi
From the Indian, -- "great and
long river," or "father of wa-
ters"1817 French Natchez
1716
46,810
1,790,618
21 Illinois
From the union of an Indian and a
French word, -- "tribe of men"1818 French Cahokia
1682
56,650
6,485,280
22 Alabama
From the Indian, -- "a place of
rest"1819 French Near Mobile
Bay1702
52,250
2,348,174
23 Maine
The main land
1820 English Pemaquid
1625
33,040
96,540
768,014
24 Missouri
From the Indian, -- "muddy," or
"muddy river"1821 French Fort Orleans
(near Jefferson City)1719
69,415
3,404,055
25 Arkansas
From the Indian kansas (smoky
water) and the French arc (a
bow)1836 French Little Rock
1690?
53,850
1,752,204
*Recent authorities (see King's "History of Ohio" in The Commonwealth Series, and the article "Ohio" in the Encyclopædia Britannica) give the date of 1803 instead of 1802, the date usually given heretofore.
TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES xxvii
NO. NAME OF STATE
DERIVATION OF NAME DATE OF ADMIS- SION BY WHOM SETTLED FIRST SETTLEMENT DATE OF SETTLEMENT SQUARE MILES POPULA-TION IN 1790 POPULA-TION IN 1920 26 Michigan
From the Indian, -- "a weir or
dam of twigs for catching fish"1837 French Mackinaw
1680?
58,915
3,668,412
27 Florida
From the Spanish pascua florida
(flowery Easter), -- hence flow-
ery," or "land of flowers"1845 Spanish St. Augustine
1565
58,680
968,471
28 Texas
Perhaps from an Indian word
meaning "friends"1845 French Lavaca, on the
coast1685
265,780
4,663,228
29 Iowa
The French form of an Indian
word applied by the Sioux to
the Gray-Snow Tribe, and
meaning the "drowsy," or the
"sleepy ones"1846 Americans Dubuque
1833?
56,025
2,404,021
30 Wisconsin
From the Indian, -- "wild or rush-
ing river" (applied to the rapids
of the Wisconsin)1848 French Green Bay
1669?
56,040
2,632,067
31 California
From the Spanish, -- the name
first occurs in a Spanish work
of fiction (1510); it was there
given to an imaginary island
abounding in gold1850 Spanish San Diego
1769
158,360
3,426,861
32 Minnesota
From the Indian, -- " cloudy," or
"whitish water"1838 Americans Fort Snelling.
1819
83,365
2,387,125
33 Oregon
Either from the Indian, "river of
the West," or from the Spanish,
wild marjoram," which grows
there in great abundance1859 Americans Astoria
1811
96,030
783,389
34 Kansas
From the Indian, -- " smoky water"
1861 Americans Atchison?
1854
82,080
1,769,257
35 West Virginia
From Virginia.
1863 English 24,780
included
in 1790
in Va.1,463,701
36 Nevada
From the Spanish sierra ne-
vada (snowy mountain ridge),
-- "snowy"1864 Americans Genoa, at the
base of the
Sierras1850
110,700
77,407
xxviii
LEADING FACTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY
NO. NAME OF STATE
DERIVATION OF NAME DATE OF ADMIS- SION BY WHOM SETTLED FIRST SETTLE- MENT DATE OF SETTLE- MENT SQUARE MILES POPULATION IN 1790 POPULA-
TION IN 192037 Nebraska
From the Indian, -- " water valley,"
or "shallow river"1867 Americans Bellevue (near
Omaha)1847
77,510
1,296,372
38 Colorado
From the Spanish -- "red," or
"colored" (referring to the color
of the rocks)1876 Americans Denver?
1859?
103,925
939,629
39 North Dakota
From the Indian, -- "leagued or
"allied" (referring to the con-
federation of the Sioux tribes)1889 English Pembina
1812
70,795
645,680
40 South Dakota
From the Indian. (See above)
1889 Americans Yankton?
1859?
77,650
636,547
41 Montana
From the Latin "mons" (a moun-
tain), -- "the land of mountains"1889 Americans Helena?
1861?
146,080
548,889
42 Washington
In honor of George Washington
1889 Americans Tumwater
1845
69,180
1,356,621
43 Idaho
From the Indian, -- " diadem of
the mountains"1890 Americans Pioneer City?
1862
84,800
431,866
44 Wyoming
From the Indian, -- "great plains"
1890 Americans Cheyenne
1867
97,890
194,402
45 Utah
From the Indian, -- " mountain
home"1896 Americans Salt Lake City
1847
84,970
449,396
46 Oklahoma
From the Indian, -- "red people"
or "beautiful land1907 Americans Guthrie and Ok-
1889
70,057
2,028,283
47 New Mexico
Perhaps from the name of an
Indian god of war1912 Spanish Santa Fé
1605?
122,580
360,350
48 Arizona
From the Indian, -- possibly, "few
springs1912 Spanish Tucson
1776?
113,020
333,903
Total population in 1790, 3,929,214; in 1890, 62,622,250; in 1920, 105,708,771 for the continental United States, or 117,857,509 if we include Alaska, Porto Rico, Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, American Samoa, the Canal Zone, the Virgin Islands, and a number of small islands in the Pacific. More than half of the people of the continental United States live in cities of over 2500 population.
NOTE. Authorities disagree on a number of the dates and places of settlement of states, and on some derivations from Indian languages. The Census Report of 1910 makes the area of the entire United States 3,690,822 sq. mi.; area of Alaska, 590,884 sq. mi.; the District of Columbia, 60 sq. mi.; the Panama Canal Zone, 448 sq. mi. The area of our island possessions is estimated as follows: Guam, 175 sq. mi.; Hawaii, 6449 sq. mi.; Porto Rico, 3600 sq. mi.; the Philippines, 127,85 3 sq. mi.; American Samoa, 77 sq. mi.; the Virgin Islands, 140 sq. mi.
The interrogation point (?) after some names of places and dates of settlement indicates conflict of authorities or lack of positive information.
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