Cities that are less famous than their most famous residents (Chicago)

[OhioLover]

I'm gonna say that Orville and Wilbur Wright are more famous than they city where they were born and raised, Dayton, Ohio.

If you don't know who they are your stupid.

[polo89]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

ELVIS (memphis)
SINATRA (hoboken)
MICHAEL (gary)

That's a darn good list. ESPECIALLY Sinatra and Hoboken, and Michael and Gary.

[clean_polo]

Yeah, a lot of people not from the Tri-State area never even heard of Hoboken, NJ. Let alone knowing that thats Frank Sinatra's hometown.

[Thomas R.]

Originally Posted by marmac

In your world maybe.

In fairness I was trying to get into the spirit of what they were saying and I actually somewhat agree with you. I think many of these cities are well-known for many things, or many people, not just one celebrity. For example Malcolm X I believe was from Omaha, but most have agreed Omaha is only known for Warren Buffet. There's a focus on living people in "cities", not towns, and to a degree I tried to satisfy that.

On my own I might be tempted to limit more to small towns or micropolitan areas that produced someone very famous. In the post above that one I listed Sissy Spacek and Quitman, Texas and Dick Armey with Cando, North Dakota. Now I think/trust you will agree Sissy Spacek is better known to America than Quitman, Texas even if it turns out you live in Quitman, Texas.

However of the ones in the post you responded to I do think Toni Morrison is more famous than Lorain, Ohio. I'm not badmouthing Lorain in saying that, I'm just saying it's not big in the public consciousness. Toni Morrison might be unknown to you, but as she was popular with Oprah and won a Nobel she is/was a big figure. So that one I'll defend. Also I'd defend Steinbeck being better known than Salinas. I'm not saying people have never heard of Salinas, but Steinbeck is a really big name whose books are in college and even high school courses.

Still as I said I personally would agree toward limiting this to small cities and micropolitan areas. (Areas where the core city is under 50,000) In that spirit....

General Omar Bradley was born in Clark, Missouri (around 300 people) and raised in the micropolis of Moberly, Missouri. Both of these are in Randolph County, Missouri which is county that has a population of about 26,000.

Glen Campbell came from what's jokingly called a "suburb" of Delight, Arkansas. Delight has around 300 people and the county it's in has around 11,000.

John Glenn was raised in New Concord, Ohio which has around 2,000 people.

B. B. King is from a town near Indianola, Mississippi. He left the Indianola area at 18, but I think being a Mississippi blues man is part of his image. Indianola has about 12,000 people. (Actress Mary Alice is also from Indianola, but it less known than B. B. King)

Cheryl Ladd is from Huron, South Dakota which has around eleven or twelve thousand people.

Loretta Lynn came from a coal town in Kentucky of around 2,000.

Reba McEntire is from Kiowa, Oklahoma which has a population of less than 700. She went to college in Durant, which has around 16,000.

Joseph Smith Jr., founder of Mormonism, came from Sharon, Vermont and apparently spent the rest of his childhood in Palmyra, New York. Neither town has over 4,000.

Hopefully I have the facts right on these. I'm going by Wikipedia and usually I double-check with elsewhere as I don't trust it. (I'm a Wikipedian)

[lrfox]

Emeril is MUCH more famous than his hometown of Fall River, MA (a city of nearly 100,000).

I'd say Dr. Suess is more famous than his hometown (Springfield, MA)

I think the Kennedy family is more well known than their place of residence, Hyannisport MA.

[Minnesota_Love]

Originally Posted by OmShahi

When I think of Obama, I think of DC. Lol.

When I think of Chicago, the first four things that come to mind are;

- Pizza
- O'Hare International
- Downtown
- And this; http://i.eimg.com.tw/d/alb/47/66847.300.jpg?ver=0
^^ The picture is not mine, so I can't post it like that.

I'll post one for you that IS mine. Mods don't freak out, I took this with my own hands.


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs102.snc1/4555_619032936431_56000713_36355114_6130519_n.jpg (broken link)

[Thomas R.]

Many US Presidents hailed from relatively small towns.

Chester A. Arthur was raised in towns of under 10,000. (Fairfield, Vermont and Perry, New York)

Calvin Coolidge was from Plymouth, Vermont which has a population of around 555.

As mentioned Eisenhower grew up in Abilene, Kansas.

LBJ came from Stonewall, Texas which has a population under 500 by the looks of it.

Ronald Reagan largely grew up in Dixon, Illinois which has a population around 16,000.

Clinton and Hope or Hot Springs, although Hot Springs isn't that small by Arkansas standards.

Obama is generally seen as one of the more "big city" Presidents, who therefore doesn't overshadow his town even if we mean Honolulu, although he's certainly not the only one. (Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, etc came from political dynasties significant to some cities)

[BelieveInCleve]

Eminem - St. Joseph, MO & Warren, MI (suburb of Detroit)

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by BelieveInCleve

Eminem - St. Joseph, MO & Warren, MI (suburb of Detroit)

Oh wow, Eminem briefly lived in Saint Joseph, MO for a brief while? I never knew that, that's news to me if true. I knew he grew up in Detroit, but had no idea he also briefly lived in St. Joseph.

The author of many various thriller books(a lot that were later turned into movies, i.e. Thinner, and so many others), Stephen King, was born and grew up in Portland, ME. I have no doubt Stephen King is more famous, than that easterly Portland is to most people.

[woxyroxme]

My little town of Lebanon Ohio has quite a few famous people. Neil Armstrong had a dairy farm just outside of town for 25 years and I went to school with Woody Harrelson and Marty Roe of Diamond Rio.