In March 2010 , the city of Topeka , Kansas , on the side change its name to Google for a calendar month in an effort to curry favour with the tech giant , which was then look for marketplace in which to test its new fiber - eye engineering . It was n’t the first prison term the midwestern townsfolk had rebranded itself , either : 1998 , the capital city temporarily changed its name to ToPikachu to commemoratePokémon ’s debut in the United States .
As extreme as the measure seems , Topeka is n’t the only city that has played the name game in parliamentary procedure to mug up up publicity . Here are nine other towns that convert their name calling — plus four that considered the idea .
1 . accuracy or Consequences , New Mexico
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Ten years after welcoming the first contestant — a sailor who play the role of a grocery clerk with a lollipop in his rima oris — onTruth or Consequences , horde Ralph Edwards promised to broadcast an installment from the first township to rename itself after his popular radio and television show . Residents of the resort town of Hot Springs , New Mexico , voted 1,294 - 295 to make the change in 1950 , and Edwards , who afterwards created and host NBC’sThis Is Your biography , visited Truth or Consequences every yr until 1999 . Edwards go in 2005 , but his legacy be on in the descriptor of Ralph Edwards Park and a celebration in the city of 7,000 every May .
2. McGillicuddy City, North Dakota
The 250 residents of Granville , North Dakota , were more than happy to temporarily change their township ’s name in 1998 . The $ 100,000 that the farming community received over the next four years from Sazerac Co. , a New Orleans - based distributer of Dr. McGillicuddy ’s spate schnapps , helped finance a new community center . " These small townspeople , they do n’t have a lot going for them,“ one resident , whose grandparents were among Granville ’s original homesteader , said . " You just take what you could get . “
Granville was chosen as the victor of Sazerac ’s nationwide search for a snow - covered modest Ithiel Town that could facilitate boost the McGillicuddy trade name . As part of the deal , Granville agree to rename its Browning automatic rifle the Shady Eye Saloon , the name of the fictional Dr. McGillicuddy ’s favorite lacrimation hole . " Yeah , we took some flak from citizenry , that this was the town that changed its name for money,“ another resident say . " But we ’re still Granville on the map . “ Indeed , the town ’s post part and school kept the Granville name .
3. Joe, Montana
After the Chiefs acquire longtime San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana in 1993 , a Kansas City radio place commemorated Joe Cool ’s arrival by win over the smallest incorporated townspeople in Montana to change its name to Joe for the duration of the football game time of year . The resident physician of Ismay — a township named after two sisters , Isabelle and Maybelle — voted 21 - 0 in favor of the modification . " It would have been 22 - 0 , but one of our voters was out of Ithiel Town , " township clerk Wayne Rieger said . In addition to receiving national care , Ismay ’s resident physician were vaporize to Kansas City to see the Chiefs play the Bengals .
4. DISH, Texas
The two - member townsfolk council of Clark , Texas , approved a softwood to rename the town serve after EchoStar Communication Corp. ’s satellite TV system in 2005 . As part of the deal , DISH ’s 125 residents were promise free satellite television for a decade . Clark mayor Bill Merritt courted EchoStar after defeating Landis Clark , the military man for whom the town was primitively named , in the 2005 mayoral election . " We really look at this as kind of a Renascence for our community,“ Merritt tell reporters . " We require everybody to come here . “ So , did they ? DISH ’s population was 201 in 2010 , according to the United States Census Bureau .
5. half.com, Oregon
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In 2000 , officials in Halfway , Oregon , agreed to change the town ’s name to half.com for one year in exchange for 20 estimator and other fiscal perks . " We literally put the brand on the map,“ allege half.com ’s vice chair and vender Mark Hughes . before long after the town of 300 unveiled sign promoting the cyberspace startup ’s name , eBay purchased half.com for $ 300 million .
6. SecretSanta.com, Idaho
Hughes helped orchestrate another match between a dot - com and an capably named town in 2005 . The Water and Sewer District in Santa , Idaho , vote to vary its name to SecretSanta.com for one year and erected signs promoting the on-line gift rally manager in return for at least $ 20,000 . The town post office , which fields letter from child every Christmas , was allowed to keep its name .
7 . Sleepy Hollow , New York
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In 1996 , the residents of North Tarrytown , New York , voted to change the town ’s name to Sleepy Hollow . Washington Irving’sThe Legend of Sleepy Hollowwas coiffe in Tarry Town , and Irving is lay to rest in the town ’s cemetery .
8. Bikinis, Texas
In 2012 , business concern owner Doug Guller buy parts of the abandon ghost town of Bakersmith , announce his plans to name it for his Bikinis Sports Bar and Grill Chain where — not astonishingly — waitress wear two - piece washup suits . An opening day event host byBaywatchalumna Carmen Electra drew massive crowds — and also disconcert occupier of the conterminous Fredericksburg . to preserve Bikinis ' relationship with Fredericksburgers , Gullerrevertedto the town ’s original moniker in June .
9. Hill Valley, Kansas
4 Towns That Kept Their Original Names
1. Ferrysburg, Michigan
Tired of being the brunt of jokes about their town ’s name , officials in Ferrysburg , Michigan , propose a name change in 1986 . " When someone say , " ˜I’m from Ferrysburg , ' it causes chuckles,“ city manager Leon Stille narrate reporters . " Some people even look up to the mayor and council as the leading fairies . It does become an irritant . “ As part of a routine that likely would n’t vaporize today , comedian Bob Hope bemock the townsfolk ’s name during a 1981 visit to nearby Grand Rapids for the opening of the Gerald R. Ford Museum , saying it was the only place in America where you could be midway between Ferrysburg and Fruitport . But residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of keeping Ferrysburg , which was named after the pal who first map the country in 1857 .
2. Sharer, Kentucky
Hoping to capitalise on the same sorting of packaging that half.com pull together five years in the beginning , PokerShare.com reportedly bid the town of Sharer , Kentucky , $ 100,000 to commute its name in 2000 . Sharer officials declined . " When you talk about poker and play , we ’re not for that in our county,“ a Butler County functionary sound out . " It ’s very conservative . "
3. White Settlement, Texas
In 2005 , the city manager and member of the chamber of commerce of White Settlement , Texas , ask voters to approve a name change to something less controversial in an effort to entice more line to the townsfolk of 15,000 . The proposal of marriage angered many in the town near Ft . Worth , and the mensuration was defeated by a 9 - to-1 margin . " Why do n’t they go ahead and transfer the name of the White House to the West House?“ former White Settlement councilman Alan Price said . " It ’s all a bunch of poppycock,“ Wendell Sowards , 72 , toldTheNew York Times . " We do n’t have any racial problem ; we just like our name . “ Some resident were so opposed to the proposal that they essay to oust the mayor through a recall process . According to the township ’s site , White Settlement traces its name to the 1840s , when a residential area of white settlers occupied an area surrounded by several aboriginal American villages .
4. Strasburg, Virginia
During the hebdomad leading up to Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg ’s major league debut in 2010 , news show of a proposed resolution to change the name of the small Virginia town of Strasburg to Stephen Strasburg was widely circulated . While the specific of the proposed name modification varied , the town council ultimately decide against a permanent alteration . Rather , the town of 4,000 agreed to reward the pitcherful with a exclusive Stephen Strasburg Day should he fare call .
