What's with all the "-villes" in the upper South?

[pj3000]

What's the deal with all these sizable villes within a few hundred mile radius in this region of the upper South/western Appalachia/lower Midwest?

Nashville, TN
Louisville, KY
Knoxville, TN
Asheville, NC
Evansville, IN
Clarksville, TN
Hendersonville, NC
Hendersonville, TN
Huntsville, AL
Greenville, SC

And I'm sure there are many, many more smaller villes in the area.

[BG918]

Originally Posted by pj3000

What's the deal with all these sizable villes within a few hundred mile radius in this region of the upper South/western Appalachia/lower Midwest?

Nashville, TN
Louisville, KY
Knoxville, TN
Asheville, NC
Evansville, IN
Clarksville, TN
Hendersonville, NC
Hendersonville, TN
Huntsville, AL
Greenville, SC

And I'm sure there are many, many more smaller villes in the area.

Also Fayetteville AR, Fayetteville NC, Fayetteville TN, etc which are named in honor of Gilbert du Motier the Marquis de Lafayette who was a folk hero for his assistance during the American Revolution.

I know most of these are pretty old cities, especially Louisville which dates back to 1778. It may have something to do with the French tie-in which means "city"

[Handro]

Here ya go:

Usage in the United States
According to toponymist George R. Stewart, the use of the suffix -ville for settlements in the United States did not begin until after the American Revolution. Previously, town-names did not usually use suffixes unless named after European towns in which case the name was borrowed wholly. When a suffix was needed, -town (or the word Town) was typically added (as in Charleston, South Carolina, originally Charles Town). In the middle of the 18th century the suffixes -borough (-boro) and -burgh (-burg) came into style. The use of -town (-ton) also increased, in part due to the increasing use of personal names for new settlements. Thus the settlement founded by William Trent became known as Trenton. These three suffixes, -town/-ton, -borough/-boro, and -burgh/-burg became popular before the Revolution, while -ville was almost completely unused until afterward. Its post-revolutionary popularity, along with the decline in the use of -town, was due in part to the pro-French sentiments which spread through the country after the war. The founding of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1780, for example, used not only the French suffix but the name of the French king. The popularity of -ville was most popular in the southern and western (Appalachian) regions of the new country, and less popular in New England.

A few -ville names pre-date the revolution, but most of them are named after European settlements or dukedoms. For example, Granville, Massachusetts was named for the Earl of Granville (he was named himself after Granville, Manche (Normandy)). After the revolution and the decline in the use of -borough and -town, the two suffixes -ville and -burgh/-burg became by far the most popular for many decades. A difference between the usage of the two is that -burgh/-burg was almost always appended to a personal name while -ville was appended to any word.

By the middle of the 19th century the -ville suffix began to lose its popularity, with newly popular suffixes with -wood, -hurst, -mere, -dale, and others taking over.[5] However, the -ville suffix is still associated with the name of settlements and used artificially, such as Hooverville, an area where homeless people generally lived during the Great Depression.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ville

[pj3000]

^ Interesting... but why in this area in particular?

Maybe it all stemmed from the naming of Louisville?

[BnaBreaker]

Originally Posted by pj3000

^ Interesting... but why in this area in particular?

Maybe it all stemmed from the naming of Louisville?

I think it just had to do with the fact that during the era directly after the Revolutionary War when admiration for the French was high this region just happened to be the area the country was expanding into and towns were being established there as a result, as opposed to regions like New England, which was already fairly settled.

For example, Louisville as already stated was founded in 1778, but also...

Clarksville in 1784
Nashville in 1779
Knoxville in 1791
Asheville in 1797

etc.

[BEER]

Originally Posted by pj3000

^ Interesting... but why in this area in particular?

Maybe it all stemmed from the naming of Louisville?

I think it was because before the Revolutionary War, this area was pretty much unsettled frontier lands in comparison to established New England and the other English colonies. It could be that these areas are/were influenced by Louisiana (Purchase) French colony?

Louisville was more connected to New Orleans than it was New York City.

[JManc]

There are quite a few "-villes" in NY; Hicksville, Bronxville, Boonville, Yorkville, Fayetville, Baldwinsville, Gloversville, etc. With the exception of Hicksville, the vast majority are small towns and villages.

[montréaliste]

They add a little Jenessaykwah.

[north 42]

I wouldn’t really consider any part of South Carolina the upper south.

[Dariusb]

Jacksonville, Ark.

[eschaton]

To me the more uniquely southern thing is cities ending in "boro" rather than "burg" or "bury."

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

I think it just had to do with the fact that during the era directly after the Revolutionary War when admiration for the French was high this region just happened to be the area the country was expanding into and towns were being established there as a result, as opposed to regions like New England, which was already fairly settled.

For example, Louisville as already stated was founded in 1778, but also...

Clarksville in 1784
Nashville in 1779
Knoxville in 1791
Asheville in 1797

etc.

Yeah, maybe post-Revolutionary War, the idea of naming anything with a British ending was far out of fashion.

Originally Posted by BEER

I think it was because before the Revolutionary War, this area was pretty much unsettled frontier lands in comparison to established New England and the other English colonies. It could be that these areas are/were influenced by Louisiana (Purchase) French colony?

Louisville was more connected to New Orleans than it was New York City.

Louisiana Purchase was lands west of the Mississippi River though. The Ohio Valley was certainly explored early in claimed by the French, which the British fought for control over.

Originally Posted by north 42

I wouldn’t really consider any part of South Carolina the upper south.

Well, maybe not, and the “Upper South” really isn’t even an often-used term. But Greenville SC is in the general area that is not Deep South and it’s not coastal south either. Mid-South and southern Appalachia? Doesn’t really matter to me... it’s just that many of the prominent cities in this interior region south of the Ohio Valley and east of the Mississippi are -villes.

Originally Posted by eschaton

To me the more uniquely southern thing is cities ending in "boro" rather than "burg" or "bury."

There are definitely a lot of -ville cities and towns everywhere in the US, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a southern thing. But it is somewhat unique how many of the prominent cities in this relatively small area of the country use the -ville ending... Nash, Louis, Evans, Knox, Ashe, Hunts... all within a few hundred miles of each other.

And yes, I do notice a lot of “boros” in the south.

I’m sure there are many plenty more, but I can only think of two in PA: Edinboro in Erie County and Birdsboro In Berks County.

[jd3189]

When I used to go to college in that area, I noticed the villes and the boros as well. Almost every interstate exit had a town with either one of those endings.


Being out of it for a while, I have to admit that the South is pretty interesting.

[BEER]

Originally Posted by north 42

I wouldn’t really consider any part of South Carolina the upper south.

You’re correct, it would not be considered upper south. However the regional locals refer to the big Ville of SC, Greenville, as “Upstate” SC.

[PhillyRising]

There are plenty of Ville's in Pennsylvania. They are usually smaller towns. Phoenixville, Gilbertsville, Montgomeryville and Collegeville in the Western Philly suburbs to name a few.

Millersville University outside of Lancaster goes by The Ville as a nickname.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by PhillyRising

There are plenty of Ville's in Pennsylvania. They are usually smaller towns. Phoenixville, Gilbertsville, Montgomeryville and Collegeville in the Western Philly suburbs to name a few.

Millersville University outside of Lancaster goes by The Ville as a nickname.

Yeah, Pennsylvania, like most states has a ton of -villes... with most of them being towns/suburbs, not bigger/well known cities.

In the region of we’re talking about, most of the larger/most prominent cities are -villes. Nowhere else has that. It can’t just be a random phenomenon.

[montréaliste]

In Quebec, there are obviously a lot of ...villes. But there are also a lot of ...bourg; French for "burg". There are also the towns and burgs and burys and boros like the rest of the anglosphere.

[mrnyc]

i never thought about this before. pretty interesting.