Where Did These New York Town Nicknames Come From?

What's in a name? When it comes to a person's last name, their ancestral clues might be obvious. The last name Baker, for example, suggests the family started with people who baked, the last name Brooks could indicate that your forefathers lived near a brook.

Many town names can be traced back with similar simplicity but what about town nicknames? Here are a dozen New York towns with nicknames and the reason those nicknames were earned.

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Some of the biggest cities around the world have nicknames. Although these places are well known by most everyone they still have nicknames attached to them. Here are some examples:

Manhattan - The Big Apple
- Started in 1921 by a sportswriter who learned that the big prize for horse races in New York were apples. 'You've won the big apple"!
Chicago - Second City
- At one time Chicago was the 2nd biggest city in America
Detroit - Motor City
- One of America's great automotive cities
Boston - Bean Town
- Starting in the 1800's due to Boston Baked Beans

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When it comes to the towns across New York State, do you know where their nicknames came from? For example Schenectady is known as 'Electric City' due to the city's connection to General Electric.

Before scrolling through the list, see if you can correctly guess the reason behind each town's nickname:

Syracuse - 'Salt City'
Amsterdam - 'Carpet City'
Corning - 'Crystal City'
Florida - 'The Onion Capital of the World
Cooperstown - 'The Birthplace of Baseball'...duh
Gloversville - 'Stump City'

New York Towns and Their Nicknames

Troy, New York is known as the 'Collar City' but why? Can you guess why Schenectady is 'Electric City'? Get the explanation to these New York nicknames and more.

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New York Towns That Share the Same Name

Is New York State so big that there is room for 2 towns with the same name? Yes! Did the settlers of the Empire State forget they already named one town Rochester before naming the second one...Rochester? Whatever the reasons are, here are a few New York towns that share the same name.

Gallery Credit: Karolyi

New York's Top 20 Most Difficult to Pronounce Town Names

Not every town can be as easy to pronounce as Washington or Springfield. These 20 New York towns will leave you scratching your head while you ask, that's how you say that?

Gallery Credit: Karolyi