Phoenix

Axios Phoenix

Data: U.S. Census, Wikipedia; Visual: Will Chase, Jacque Schrag, Tory Lysik/Axios

The U.S. is filled with towns and cities named after foreign places: You can visit Naples, New York; Paris, Illinois ... or Bagdad, Arizona.

Check out a new project from the Axios Visuals team that visualizes some of these cities with interactive maps, graphics and more.

Between the lines: In many cases, immigrants renamed their new homes for the areas they came from.

We found four Arizona communities with international names and their origin stories are a bit more unusual.

Zoom in: Legend says the name of the northern Arizona town Bagdad came from a father-son mining operation. The son would yell, "Bag, dad!" when he needed a new ore bag. This theory would explain why Bagdad's spelling differs from the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

🤯 Jessica and Jeremy here: We were both shocked to learn the name "Tempe" has Mediterranean roots.

The butte and wide river in what is now downtown Tempe reminded one of the area's early pioneers of the Vale of Tempe in ancient Greece, according to the city's website.

You tell us: Are you from one of these towns?

Did you know about the cultural history of your community? Any interesting factoids or photos you'd like to share? Hit reply.

🚗 Go deeper: With interactive maps and graphics, the Axios Visuals team conjured up curated routes for a Mediterranean getaway or a tour of the ancient world — all in the U.S.

Travel the world without ever leaving Arizona

You can visit Naples, New York; Paris, Illinois ... or Bagdad, Arizona.

Arizona

<div><figure><div id="av-2023-no-passport-arizona-3BYWK" style="max-width:100%" data-vars-category="embed" data-vars-sub-category="axios-visual" data-vars-asset-id="av-2023-no-passport-arizona-3BYWK" class="gtmView"><img alt="Data: U.S. Census, Wikipedia; Visual: Will Chase, Jacque Schrag, Tory Lysik/Axios" class="axios-visual-newsletter-fallback-image" src="https://graphics.axios.com/2023-no-passport-arizona/fallbacks/2023-no-passport-arizona-fallback.png" width="1200" height="1128"/><img alt="Data: U.S. Census, Wikipedia; Visual: Will Chase, Jacque Schrag, Tory Lysik/Axios" class="axios-visual-apple-fallback-image" src="https://graphics.axios.com/2023-no-passport-arizona/fallbacks/2023-no-passport-arizona-apple.png" width="750" height="940"/></div><figcaption>Data: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="U.S. Census" data-vars-click-url="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html" data-vars-content-id="2db4e367-3d93-4431-ad28-81ba896c5362" data-vars-headline="Travel the world without ever leaving Arizona" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html" target="_blank">U.S. Census</a>, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Wikipedia" data-vars-click-url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._places_named_after_non-U.S._places" data-vars-content-id="2db4e367-3d93-4431-ad28-81ba896c5362" data-vars-headline="Travel the world without ever leaving Arizona" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._places_named_after_non-U.S._places" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>; Visual: Will Chase, Jacque Schrag, Tory Lysik/Axios</figcaption></figure></div>The U.S. is filled with towns and cities named after foreign places: You can visit Naples, New York; Paris, Illinois ... or Bagdad, Arizona.Check out <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="a new project" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/us-immigration-cities-travel-itinerary" data-vars-content-id="2db4e367-3d93-4431-ad28-81ba896c5362" data-vars-headline="Travel the world without ever leaving Arizona" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/us-immigration-cities-travel-itinerary" target="_self">a new project</a> from the Axios Visuals team that visualizes some of these cities with interactive maps, graphics and more.

Things to Do

New Orleans

We know that Louisianans, and Americans, are struggling to get passports renewed on time given the unprecedented backlog.

If international travel isn't in your future, may we suggest a trip around the world — without leaving Louisiana? 

Driving the news: The U.S. is filled with towns and cities that were named after foreign places: You can take a trip to Naples, New York, or Paris, Illinois.

In fact, there are so many of these cities that you could go on a world tour without ever leaving the U.S. 

The big picture: In Louisiana you can take a trip around the world with at least 11 stops, from Europe to Asia. 

There's Gretna, the Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge, Lisbon and Jena if you'd like to "visit" Scotland, Myanmar, Portugal and Germany. 

There's Sorrento, Kolin and Delhi if Italy, the Czech Republic or India are more your speed. 

Be smart: Sorrento was named by a German immigrant in 1909 who built the railroad through the region. He chose the name after the Italian city where he and his wife went on their honeymoon, according to the town.

Jena, Louisiana, came to be when "Hemps Creek" was renamed by James Forsythe after his hometown Jena, Illinois, which had been named for Jena, Germany. 

Go deeper: Plan your "international" vacation within our nation's borders

Go deeper: Plan your "international" vacation within our nation's borders.

How to travel the world without leaving Louisiana

The U.S. is filled with towns and cities named after foreign places.

Louisiana

Animated illustration of US passports filling the screen.

We know that Louisianans, and Americans, are <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="struggling" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/07/27/louisiana-passport-backlog" data-vars-content-id="4024166e-8e66-425c-aee2-71c72a192378" data-vars-headline="How to travel the world without leaving Louisiana" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/07/27/louisiana-passport-backlog" target="_self">struggling</a> to get passports renewed on time given the unprecedented backlog.<ul><li>If international travel isn&#x27;t in your future, may we suggest a trip around the world — without leaving Louisiana? </li></ul>Driving the news: The U.S. is filled with towns and cities that were named after foreign places: You can take a trip to Naples, New York, or Paris, Illinois.

Twin Cities

Axios Twin Cities

Data: U.S. Census, Wikipedia. Visual: Will Chase, Jacque Schrag, Tory Lysik/Axios

Minnesota is filled with towns and cities that share a name with foreign places, Axios' Will Chase, Jacque Schrag, and Tory Lysik report.

The big picture: The Axios Visuals team found hundreds of localities across the nation with current names that appear to be inspired by sites abroad. 

You can take a trip to Naples, N.Y., or Paris, Texas. — and go on a world tour without ever leaving Minnesota. 

Between the lines: In many cases, immigrants frequently renamed their new homes after the areas they came from.

That's why most of the 79 Minnesota towns on the list nod to places in Germany, Norway, and other Scandinavian nations. 

Yes, but: Other names are tied to countries ranging from the Czech Republic (New Prague) to Spain (Altura). 

Our neighbor to the north is also represented (Little Canada).

🚗 Go Deeper: With interactive maps and graphics, the Axios Visuals team conjured up curated routes for a Mediterranean getaway or a tour of the ancient world — all in the U.S.

These Minnesota towns share a name with foreign places

Names inspired by Scandinavian cities and towns are popular.

Minnesota is filled with towns and cities that share a name with foreign places, Axios&#x27; Will Chase, Jacque Schrag, and Tory Lysik report.The big picture: The Axios Visuals team found hundreds of localities across the nation with current names that appear to be inspired by sites abroad.

News

Axios Twin Cities, anchored by Torey Van Oot, Nick Halter and Audrey Kennedy, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard

Denver

Axios Denver

The U.S. is filled with towns and cities named after foreign places: You can visit Naples, New York; Paris, Illinois ... or Madrid, Colorado.

In fact, there are so many of these cities that you could go on a world tour without ever leaving the state.

👉 Check out our new project from the Axios Visuals team that visualizes some of these cities with interactive maps, graphics, and more.

Zoom in: We found at least seven places with international cousins in Colorado, though there are likely many more.

Durango, in the southwestern corner, shares its namesake with Durango City, Mexico, because Colorado's former territorial governor A.C. Hunt thought the two regions looked similar.

The town of Simla, northeast of Colorado Springs, was reportedly named by a railroad official's daughter, who was reading a book about Shimla, India.

You tell us: Are you from one of these towns? Live there? How do you pronounce it?

Did you know about the cultural history of your town? Any interesting factoids or photos you'd like to share? Hit reply.

Travel the world without ever leaving Colorado

Spain, Mexico and India are all just a drive away.

The U.S. is filled with towns and cities named after foreign places: You can visit Naples, New York; Paris, Illinois ... or Madrid, Colorado.<ul><li>In fact, there are so many of these cities that you could go on a world tour without ever leaving the state.</li></ul>

Axios Denver, anchored by John Frank and Alayna Alvarez, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.

Columbus

Axios Columbus

You don't need a passport to visit Cairo, Moscow and Toronto. In fact, you don't even need to leave the state.

Driving the news: Ohio is full of communities named for famous foreign places, from Oxford to Rome.

If your summer wanderlust is hitting early and you can't catch a flight, hop in the car and try out this epic road trip created by our Axios Visuals team.

Flashback: These locales were often named by immigrants paying tribute to their native homes, such as Dublin, given that name by Irish surveyor John Shields in 1810.

The intrigue: Ohio has a history of butchering the pronunciation of these namesake places.

Alissa and Tyler grew up near the village of Milan, famous for being the birthplace of Thomas Edison. It's called "my-lan," not like the "me-lahn" in Italy.

Ohio's also the home to Versailles ("ver-say-ulls"), Rio Grande ("rye-oh grand"), Medina ("meh-dye-nuh") and Cadiz ("caddis").

We even messed up Cairo. Here, sans pyramids and kings, it's "care-oh."

Elsewhere in Ohio, you can take a European tour with jaunts to London, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Macedonia.

Or go back in time to ancient Greece with trips to Athens and Sparta.

If the latter is too far west for you, try East Sparta instead.

We've also got countries: Dine at the historic Golden Lamb Restaurant in Lebanon, escape to the quiet village of Poland and enjoy the scenic Lake Loramie State Park near Russia ("roo-she").

We've even got an ocean (the village of Baltic) and a continent (the small community of Africa near Polaris Fashion Place).

Want something new? We suggest the towns of New Bremen, New Holland and New Vienna.

Or you can tour New Paris, then scale a replica Eiffel Tower at Kings Island.

The bottom line: Ohio is a melting pot of global names and cultures.

Give these towns a visit — just make sure you pronounce them right to the locals.

Think we missed a city on our road trip map? Check out the full list, then let us know at nopassport@axios.com.

Travel the world without ever leaving Ohio

A foreign-inspired road trip through the Buckeye State.

Ohio

You don&#x27;t need a passport to visit Cairo, Moscow and Toronto. In fact, you don&#x27;t even need to leave the state.Driving the news: Ohio is full of communities named for famous foreign places, from Oxford to Rome.

Will Chase

Stories

How to travel the world without leaving Louisiana

Travel the world without ever leaving Arizona

Travel the world without ever leaving Colorado

Travel the world without ever leaving Ohio

These Minnesota towns share a name with foreign places