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Did you know that Florida contains a municipality with one of the most frequently occurring community names in the nation?
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Board of Geographic Names Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the name Midway currently is found 256 times throughout the United States. The City of Midway, Fla., is located in Gadsden County just west of Tallahassee and was incorporated in 1986.
The GNIS database counts "all named entities with human habitation." This includes incorporated places, unincorporated places, housing developments not yet incorporated and neighborhoods within incorporated places.
The names Midway and Fairview both occur more than 250 times; which name occurs more often varies from year to year. The GNIS database also states, "The name Springfield often is thought to be the only community name appearing in each of the 50 states, but at last count it was in only 34."
Another community name thought to be present in all 50 states is Riverside. Although it occurs 186 times, Riverside is only found in 46 states. Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana and Oklahoma do not have instances of the name. In Florida, Riverside is listed as a "populated place" in the cities of Jacksonville, Orange City and Tampa.
Additionally, Florida is home to a municipality with one of the longest names containing a hyphen in the United States. The Town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fla., with 21 characters, is tied for third place with three other cities, Vermillion-on-the-Lake, Ohio; Wymberly-on-the-March, Ga.; and Kentwood-in-the-Pines, Ca. The State of Maryland holds the top two longest hyphenated community names: Linstead-on-the-Severn (22 characters) and Winchester-on-the-Severn (24 characters).
Currently, the longest name in the GNIS database is 94 characters long and belongs to the University of Rhode Island Coastal Institute on Narragansett Bay Conference and Visitor Center in Rhode Island.
Information referenced is from the United States Geological Survey, United States Board of Geographic Names, Domestic Names - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Web page.
Reprinted from Quality Cities January/February 2009.
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