Just Rename It

I once wrote a post on WAYLA about cities that changed their names to escape a reputations for vice. That ignored a lot of other name changes, a few of which are even interesting. Interestingly, this 1745 map shows "R. et Port de Checagou" where the Chicago River entered Lake Michigan. In other words, Chicago was called Chicago 90 years before it was incorporated.

I mentioned in the WAYLA post that Tessville became Lincolnwood, Shermerville became Northbrook, and West Hammond became Calumet City. There are other interesting reasons to change though. For instance, part of Burr Ridge was the village of Harvester, Illinois, named for the nearby International Harvester facility and test fields. Later the area was united with two other developments and renamed the stately sounding "Burr Ridge." Clearly being associated with an International Harvester facility had lost some attraction. Meanwhile, East Chicago Heights was a struggling and impoverished suburb that had been called the "poorest suburb in America." Clearly the East Chicago Heights brand was taking a beating. What to do? Well, there is a Ford stamping plant adjacent to East Chicago Heights. Why not annex that (good tax base there) and rebrand the town as "Ford Heights"? Part one failed and the village was not able to annex the plant, but it did get a new name . . .

Other towns just realized that things had changed, making their old names unrepresentative. For instance, Park Ridge had been the location of a large brick works. The town was called Brickton. Clever, no? In any case, the brick works tapped the last of the material they could use, and suddenly Brickton made no sense. Residents incorporated the town as "Park Ridge" soon thereafter. Perhaps similarly, when it was a farming community Oakbrook Terrace was called Utopia. Once the expressways and suburban development came . . . well . . . Utopia was less accurate than it had been. Hence, Oakbrook Terrace.

And then there is Barrington. It is possible that Barrington has as many towns and villages with names derived from it as any other city in the region (including Chicago). There is Barrington, Port Barrington, North Barrington, Lake Barrington, South Barrington, and Barrington Hills. That's six "Barrington" towns in the Chicago area. Meanwhile, I count North Chicago, Chicago Heights, West Chicago, New Chicago, IN, South Chicago Heights, and Chicago. That's six "Chicago" towns. Now, I've been to Barrington. It's a nice place. But really?