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Then Reiss fessed up. “It’s nowhere. . . . We chose the name because there are 48 Springfields in America in 43 states, which means five states had two Springfields.’’
In the case of Hawaii, the Post Office addressed (pun intended) the issue of two towns having the same name by unilaterally changing one of them. Thus, Waimea on Kauai got to keep its name while Waimea on the Big Island got changed to Kamuela. (Though, everyone still calls it Waimea, except when they're addressing letters.) And Kailua on Oahu got to keep its name while the Big Island once again drew the short straw, and its Kailua became Kailua-Kona. (This one has stuck pretty well; people tend to call it either Kailua-Kona or just Kona.)
Doubt its the exact same name in the same state. Probably something like Springfield Township and City of Springfield, or Springfield Village and the unincorporated county of Springfield--sort of like there is Baltimore and Baltimore county, or New York City and New York County (Manhattan) within New York City.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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There are two Springfield Townships in suburban Philadelphia. They are about 20 miles apart from one another in adjacent counties - one in Delaware County and one in Montgomery County. The Delaware County one has the Springfield School District and the Montgomery County one has Springfield Township School District. If you ask someone near Philly where they are from, and they say Springfield, you have to ask which one. Yes, it's confusing.
There are also two Newtown Townships in the Phila. area - one in Delaware County and one in Bucks County - about 40 miles apart from one another. Fortunately, the Newtown Township in Delaware County goes by Newtown Square mostly, so it's not quite as confusing as the Springfields.
When I read the thread title I immediately thought of Springfield. I think I was in my teens when I found out Springfield, OH normally refers to the town down by Dayton. Growing up in Toledo I only knew that Springfield (township but I didn't know that).
I remember I thought it was odd a state could have two towns with the same name.
There are two Torch Lakes in MI. One is a gorgeous clear water lake with quaint towns nearby and a beautiful place to visit. The other I hear is a toxic cesspool full of mine tailings located on the edge of the world. Don't confuse the two.
Well many of these towns were settled during colonial times or when America was in its infancy. It would be pretty difficult and probably unjust for the government to come down on a municipality, forcing it to change the name it's been known as for centuries. It's usually easy to distinguish between locations that share the same name anyway. In the case of Rochester, New York you have one major upstate city with a metro population of 1.1 million and another small Catskills town with a population of 7,000 that is almost impossible to find on a map. While there are no large or mid-sized cities called Springfield, the repeating ones are normally on complete opposite ends of their state and differ in population/importance.
In New Jersey, we have 3 Washingtons! Washington Township in Gloucester County, Washington Township in Bergen County, Washington the borough in Warren County. Like wtf, how can this possibly be allowed...
I dunno how it works in other states, but in Pennsylvania every city and borough must have a unique name. However, a township (which is technically unincorporated, but usually has some form of local government) can share a name with another, as long as they aren't in the same county. Hence PA has 22 Washington Townships.
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