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* [[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]] - The Whaling City.<ref name="Huntington">[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2009/6/2009_6_10_dept.shtml Tom Huntington] "Treasure Trove of Documents Discovered in Whaling Town," ''American Heritage'', Winter 2009.</ref>
* [[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]] - The Whaling City.<ref name="Huntington">[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2009/6/2009_6_10_dept.shtml Tom Huntington] "Treasure Trove of Documents Discovered in Whaling Town," ''American Heritage'', Winter 2009.</ref>
* [[Newburyport, Massachusetts|Newburyport]] - Clipper City.<ref>[http://www.merrimackvalley.info/communities/newburyport.html Focus on Newburyport], [http://www.merrimackvalley.info Merrimack valley Info]{{Failed verification|date=December 2007}}, accessed October 1, 2007. "Shipbuilding was one of the most important and profitable trades making Newburyport known as the 'Clipper City.'"</ref>
* [[Newburyport, Massachusetts|Newburyport]] - Clipper City.<ref>[http://www.merrimackvalley.info/communities/newburyport.html Focus on Newburyport], [http://www.merrimackvalley.info Merrimack valley Info]{{Failed verification|date=December 2007}}, accessed October 1, 2007. "Shipbuilding was one of the most important and profitable trades making Newburyport known as the 'Clipper City.'"</ref>
* [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]] - The Garden City
* [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]] - The Garden City<ref>[http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/parks/discover/Discover%20Newton,%20MA%20%20The%20Garden%20City.htm], Official website of the City of Newton</ref>
* [[North Adams, Massachusetts|North Adams]]
* [[North Adams, Massachusetts|North Adams]]
** The Tunnel City<ref name=PopikSmoky/>
** The Tunnel City<ref name=PopikSmoky/>

Revision as of 19:24, 14 December 2011

This partial list of city nicknames in Massachusetts compiles the aliases, sobriquets, and slogans that cities and towns in Massachusetts are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.[1] Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth"[2] are also believed to have economic value.[1] Their economic value is difficult to measure,[1] but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.[2]

Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency.

The Minute Man Statue on the Green in Lexington commemorates the events that earned the town its sobriquet of The Birthplace of American Liberty.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Muench, David "Wisconsin Community Slogans: Their Use and Local Impacts", December 1993, accessed April 10, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City :), MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007
  3. ^ a b c Claims to Fame - Products, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
  4. ^ Technology Plan 2007-2011, Attleboro Public Schools, Attleboro Public Schools website, accessed September 17, 2011
  5. ^ Attleboro Massachusetts- The Jewelry Capital of the World, Guyot Brothers Company, Inc. website, accessed September 17, 2011
  6. ^ Boston :: "The Athens of America" - Britannica Student Encyclopaedia
  7. ^ a b c U.S. City Monikers, Tagline Guru website, accessed January 5, 2008
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barry Popik, Smoky City, barrypopik.com website, March 27, 2005 Cite error: The named reference "PopikSmoky" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ Why do they call Boston "Beantown"?, Ask Yahoo? website, September 5, 2001
  10. ^ Why do they call Boston "Beantown"?, Boston-Online website
  11. ^ a b c Norman Dalager, What's in a nickname?, Boston.com website, accessed June 18, 2008
  12. ^ Queen City, Time (magazine), January 30, 1928, accessed April 13, 1928.
  13. ^ Cambridge Officials Put a Stop to Boy Scout Drive to Aid Troops in Iraq, Fox News, accessed April 4, 2008.
  14. ^ Trausch, Susan (1990), "There is Life Beyond Boston--Really," Boston Globe, June 6, 1990, p. 17: "[Springfield] has Chicopee, "Kielbasa Capital of the World," right next door."
  15. ^ O'Brien, George (2001), "Stretching the Imagination in Chicopee," BusinessWest, October 1, 2001: p. 14: "The city once known merely as the kielbasa capital of the universe now has much more on its plate."
  16. ^ Reynolds, Mark. "Mayor's plans for city include schools for gifted pupils", The Providence Journal, February 2, 2005. Accessed June 28, 2009. "Meanwhile, the graduation rate for students in Fall River -- the self-proclaimed 'Scholarship City' -- is 97 percent."
  17. ^ Official Site of Gardner, MA, accessed October 28, 2008.
  18. ^ Mike Richard (1993). Glory to Gardner: 100 years of football in the Chair City.
  19. ^ Bruce Gellerman, Erik Sherman (2008). Massachusetts Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff. Globe Pequot. ISBN 0762746807.: "By 1837 they were turning out so many chairs that residents immodestly dubbed the place "Chair City of the World."
  20. ^ Constance Riley (2008). Chair City of the World. XLibris. ISBN 978-1436358453.
  21. ^ Used in numerous local business and organization names, e.g. Chair City Supply Company, Chair City Oil, Chair City Family Medicine, Chair City Pale Ale, Chair City Pipers, etc.
  22. ^ The World Capital of Whatever, The New York Times by Harold Faber, September 12, 1993.
  23. ^ Holyoke Community Charter School (HCCS) Opens in the Birthplace of Volleyball, SABIS Educational System, archived from the original on November 28, 2010
  24. ^ Examples of the use of this name include the book title Lexington, the Birthplace of American Liberty: A Handbook by Fred Smith Piper (first published in 1902, formerly available from the Lexington Historical Society [1], and currently available through Google Books), the Lexington Visitor Center website, and the City of Lexington website (all websites accessed January 6, 2008).
  25. ^ Drake, John (12/27/2006). "Natick to be designated "Home of Champions"". Boston Globe. Retrieved 15 November 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Tom Huntington "Treasure Trove of Documents Discovered in Whaling Town," American Heritage, Winter 2009.
  27. ^ Focus on Newburyport, Merrimack valley Info[failed verification], accessed October 1, 2007. "Shipbuilding was one of the most important and profitable trades making Newburyport known as the 'Clipper City.'"
  28. ^ [2], Official website of the City of Newton
  29. ^ Vallette, David A. (2009-05-01). "'Hamp override draws foes, backers". The Republican. Springfield, Mass. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  30. ^ Gordon, Ronni (2007-07-27). "Theater benefit at Noho academy". The Republican. Springfield, Mass. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  31. ^ America's Hometown, Town of Plymouth website, accessed November 19, 2011
  32. ^ "The slogan for Provincetown says it well, 'Like No Where Else'"[3] and "Some members felt that although a slogan ("Like nowhere else") has been chosen, there needs to be more community input and consensus"[4].
  33. ^ Used in Rich Gay, Poor Gay by David Colman, The New York Times, September 4, 2005, and in the title of the book Ptown: Art, Sex, and Money on the Outer Cape By Peter Manso (2002; Simon and Schuster; ISBN 978-0743243117
  34. ^ "QUITS POST IN DISPUTE ON SALEM'S BIRTH DATE; Author of City History Gives Up Place With the Essex Institute.", The New York Times, March 6, 1926, accessed April 23, 2007. "Sidney Perley, author of a history of Salem, resigned his position with the Essex Institute today because of a dispute as to the date of the city's founding. His action renewed a controversy which had raged since plans were set on foot to observe next July the tercentenary of the 'City of Witches.'"
  35. ^ Matarazzo Jr., Bruno. "Historic buildings getting plundered for copper", The Salem News, April 23, 2007, accessed April 23, 2007. "SALEM - Think of a thief snatching a gold necklace from around a woman's neck as she walks down the street. Now think of the victim as a historic building, and you get an idea of one of the crime trends haunting the Witch City."
  36. ^ Affordable towns near Boston for would-be home buyers, by David Valdes Greenwood. Boston Phoenix, accessed April 4, 2008.
  37. ^ New England for Visitors, About.com, accessed April 23, 2007. "Did you know that Springfield is the birthplace of basketball?"
  38. ^ Federal Reserve System and Brookings Institution (2008), Springfield, Massachusetts: Old Hill, Six Corners, and the South End neighborhoods, in The Enduring Challenge of Poverty in America: Case Studies from Communities Across the U.S. Retrieved from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco website, November 19, 2011. "Springfield was once known as the 'City of Firsts'. It was the first to develop interchangeable parts..."
  39. ^ a b Springfield, Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts
  40. ^ Choose Springfield, Massachusetts, website accessed November 19, 2011
  41. ^ The City of Progress New City Library, Merrick Park, State Street Springfield, MA
  42. ^ The City Of Progress, Winchester Square Springfield, MA
  43. ^ Read the ebook Progressive Springfield, Massachusetts by George Storrs] [Graves
  44. ^ http://www.archive.org/stream/progressivesprin00grav#page/n1/mode/2up
  45. ^ http://www.archive.org/stream/progressivesprin00grav#page/n1/mode/2up
  46. ^ http://www.archive.org/stream/picturesquesprin00grav#page/n1/mode/2up
  47. ^ A Message From The Mayor, City of Taunton, Massachusetts website, accessed April 23, 2007. "Throughout our glorious history, our community has earned the reputation as the Christmas City as visitors converge on Taunton from all corners of New England to witness the annual lighting of historic Taunton Green."
  48. ^ City of Taunton, Massachusetts, accessed on the original site on April 23, 2007; archived on May 2, 2008. "Taunton has three nicknames; 'City of Firsts'- 1st Woman Proprietor, 1st to raise the Liberty & Union Flag 1774, and 1st Silver Manufacturer 'The Silver City- Had three major Silver Manufacturing Plants-1 remaining Christmas City-For decades the community lit up the Taunton green at the annual "Lights On" ceremony."
  49. ^ Lopes, Ashley. "Watching the history of Taunton", Taunton Daily Gazette, April 15, 2007, accessed April 23, 2007. "TAUNTON - Mayor Charles Crowley, producer of cable access program Olde Tyme Taunton, kept the history of the Silver City alive as he celebrated his 250th show Wednesday."
  50. ^ Siek, Stephanie V. Waltham: Room to grow at museum", Boston Globe, April 12, 2007, accessed April 23, 2007. "You can see it at the new home of the Waltham Museum, which finally has enough room for its many windows into the past lives of the Watch City."
  51. ^ WESTFIELD, THE "WHIP CITY", accessed April 23, 2007.
  52. ^ http://www.berkshireview.com/Williamstown.html
  53. ^ http://www.worcestermass.org/
  54. ^ Laura Crimaldi, Reaching high in City of Seven Hills; ‘Second tier’ Worcester thrives, Boston Herald, March 1, 2009
  55. ^ Worcester, Mass - Origins of the Phrase Wormtown, WorcesterMass.com website, accessed October 28, 2008