The Name Stays: Rainier Ruled Permanent
Federal authorities rebuff fourth attempt to rename Washington’s highest peak to Mount Tacoma.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
WASHINGTON.—Efforts to change the name of Mount Rainier to Mount Tacoma were denounced by the U. S. Geographic Board. For the fourth time the board ruled that the name of the historic mountain be kept intact. A unanimous vote in favor of Rainier was cast by the board June 4, but was withheld until recently by Congressman N. J. Sinnott of Oregon, chairman of the public lands committee of the house, to whom the report was made. The name 'Rainier,' the report states, has become the property of the world, and is no more subject to change than would be the name of the Andes mountains of South America. 'To change it would be a blow to the stability of geographic and historical nomenclature,' the report states.
“To change it would be a blow to the stability of geographic and historical nomenclature.”
The 'Rainier vs. Tacoma' debate has been a century-long tug-of-war for civic identity in Washington. While this 1924 decision focused on 'stability of nomenclature,' the discussion has since evolved into a deeper conversation about honoring the mountain's Indigenous name, Tahoma, reflecting changing values in how we assign names to the landscape.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.