The Great Debate Over Naming Washington
When the territory was preparing for statehood in 1888, a local newspaper polled residents on whether to keep the name 'Washington'—and many feared confusion with the nation's capital.
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.
Several weeks ago the Post-Intelligencer requested its readers and the residents of the territory generally, to submit their preferences in the matter of a name for the state when admitted into the Union. The main cause of the desire for a change seems to arise from the fact that the giving of the name Washington to the new state would lead to confusion, and that endless trouble and annoyance would arise from the confounding of the national capital with the political division on the northwest Pacific coast. Nearly seven hundred replies have been received. Especially noticeable is the unanimity with which the great mass of the people support the name the territory now bears. Out of 665 replies, 572 were in favor of Washington. The opposition to Washington was based entirely on the fact that the name would, in time, create confusion. One gentleman, in support of the idea of retaining the name, argues that a century ago, while the convention at Philadelphia was framing the federal constitution, there sailed from Boston for the northwest coast of America a little fleet consisting of the American sloop Washington and the ship Columbia. It would be worse than vandalism to sever that historic connection established in the naming of the territory Washington.
“It would be worse than vandalism to sever that historic connection established in the naming of the territory Washington.”
The 1888 debate over potential state names—including 'Columbia,' 'Tacoma,' and 'Rainier'—highlights a long-standing anxiety about Seattle and Washington's identity on the national stage. Today, that same tension persists in discussions about how the region is branded and perceived by the world, often caught between its local geography and its association with federal power.
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