King County renamed...sort of

[bgwah]

http://www.metrokc.gov/exec/news/2005/04/19mlkjrCounty.htm

Uh. Does this mean the census and state and county government will actually say the 24 letter name now?

[Alcon]

It's certainly going to be a joy to cross over the Martin Luther King Junior County county line.

Is there any other county that has a longer name than the used one? Or is this really King's new name?

[Frodo]

if it has to be changed, i think 'MLK county' is good enough -it gets the point across and rolls off the tongue more easily than saying the entire formal name......   

[Alcon]

if it has to be changed, i think 'MLK county' is good enough -it gets the point across and rolls off the tongue more easily than saying the entire formal name......   

Or, alternatively, King County could stop pretending that it was named after Martin Luther King Jr., and we wouldn't have to bother with this.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

It's 22 letters.

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is 35 letters.

[bgwah]

I'm not sure why this was passed. Probably fear of being labeled a racist by Washington's giant black community.

But I just want to know is this the OFFICIAL name now? Will it be used in official documents?

Of course, many county residents are unaware of the change and the county will still be called "King" for short.

[Frodo]

if it has to be changed, i think 'MLK county' is good enough -it gets the point across and rolls off the tongue more easily than saying the entire formal name......   

Or, alternatively, King County could stop pretending that it was named after Martin Luther King Jr., and we wouldn't have to bother with this.

true -we could instead have this county be given its native American name....like 'Duwamish county', for instance, named after the tribe that dominated the Seattle area when white settlers first moved in.  after all, there are already several counties to the immediate north of King County that are named after the tribes and/or rivers that flow through them, like Snohomish County. 

or maybe we could name it, 'Seattle county'.  it would be a damn fine appropriate name -accurate too, considering the dominance this city has over the entire county.     

[Alcon]

KOMO, KING, and KIRO aren't even mentioning this on their front page, so it's probably not an official full-name change.

jfern, you must consider that the people who named Rhode Island that also named it Rhode Island. They aren't exactly the brightest fries in the big meal.

[Rob]

How stupid. It's the kind of politically correct decision that Eugene would make (and actually, there was a controversy here over a similar name change).

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

jfern, you must consider that the people who named Rhode Island that also named it Rhode Island. They aren't exactly the brightest fries in the big meal.

I'm not sure why it got its name, but I assume the non-island part is what was called Providence Plantations.

[Hatman 🍁]

KOMO, KING, and KIRO aren't even mentioning this on their front page, so it's probably not an official full-name change.

jfern, you must consider that the people who named Rhode Island that also named it Rhode Island. They aren't exactly the brightest fries in the big meal.

Um, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is not exactly a stupid name. The state consists of an Island, Rhode Island and an area around Provinence, hence Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It's just been shortened over time.

[bgwah]

How stupid. It's the kind of politically correct decision that Eugene would make (and actually, there was a controversy here over a similar name change).

This wasn't a King County move...the STATE renamed it!

if it has to be changed, i think 'MLK county' is good enough -it gets the point across and rolls off the tongue more easily than saying the entire formal name......

Or, alternatively, King County could stop pretending that it was named after Martin Luther King Jr., and we wouldn't have to bother with this.

true -we could instead have this county be given its native American name....like 'Duwamish county', for instance, named after the tribe that dominated the Seattle area when white settlers first moved in. after all, there are already several counties to the immediate north of King County that are named after the tribes and/or rivers that flow through them, like Snohomish County.

or maybe we could name it, 'Seattle county'. it would be a damn fine appropriate name -accurate too, considering the dominance this city has over the entire county.

hehe, I almost suggested that but then decided to delete it from my post. I like Native American names.

It's gotta be a bad ass name, like SKYKOMISH. Come on, no one can deny the coolness of that name.

My list of possible names:
-Skykomish
-Suquamish
-Sammamish
-Duwamish
-Seattle
-Tukwila
-Snoqualmie

All counties that border except Pierce have Indian names, I believe... (Kitsap, Snohomish, Kittitas, and maybe Chelan too)

[Rob]

How stupid. It's the kind of politically correct decision that Eugene would make (and actually, there was a controversy here over a similar name change).

This wasn't a King County move...the STATE renamed it!

Wow... that's bizarre.

[Gabu]

That's an awfully long name.

[bgwah]

Wow! They fit every black person in the state into one picture!

[Alcon]

Wow! They fit every black person in the state into one picture!

Gregoire and that guy behind her are especially black.

Why did the state rename the county? That should be the county's business.

However, I do think Skykomish County is pretty cool-sounding.

[minionofmidas]

I don't think it's the county's business...most counties were created by state law, complete with names.

Longest county name I can think of right now...
Saint John the Baptist parish in Louisiana. 19 letters.

As for Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...when the colony adopted a county style of government in ca.1700, the two counties created were called Rhode Island County and Providence Plantations County. The colony grew up out of two separate secessions from Massachusetts...one group of dissidents settling on Rhode Island, the other in the Providence area.
The two counties were renamed Newport County and Providence County pretty quickly. Newport County was then split, twice. In 1729, King's County was created from its mainland part, in 1747 the are disputed between Newport County and Bristol County MA became Bristol County RI. In 1750 King's County was split, its northern portion becoming Kent County. And during the revolution King's County was renamed Washington County (it's also colloquially known in Rhode Island as South County).

[minionofmidas]

Oh, and if you read the article closely, you'll understand what the people who wrote the article apparently did not.
King County county council voted, in 1986, that King County, named after William Rufus King, should be renamed and henceforth be called King County, named after Martin Luther King.
However, King County county council has no authority to rename King County. The State of Washington has the authority to rename King County.
And that's exactly what the State of Washington did, in 2005.

[CARLHAYDEN]

It was so nice of Gregoire to sign the bill.

It will be interesting to see how it impacts on the special election.

[Storebought]

I really can't say what I find more offensive about this stunt, because they are all rankling to me:

1. The Soviet-style renaming
2. The Pacific Northwest's latte liberal set
3. The watermelon-eating smiles on those black members' faces (they wouldn't have to fake-smile if they knew that this was all just a pander)
4. Christine Gregroire

[Blue Rectangle]

Gregoire should go further to promote race relations and rename her state "George Washington Carver".

[Emsworth]

There is also the Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Census Area in Alaska.

[Alcon]

It was so nice of Gregoire to sign the bill.

It will be interesting to see how it impacts on the special election.

What special election would that be?

[bgwah]

I can't blame Gregoire for signing this. It wasn't solely her doing-the state legislature passed it.

She had been accused of being racist during the Democratic primary, she would've started trouble that is not needed by not signing.

You're right Lewis, it was renamed in 1986. But the county name was changed, it was still King County, just "changed" who it was named after. But now they've added three new words to it; Martin, Luther, and Junior.

If East King County does split off, they better ditch the Cascade name and go with Skykomish. Much better!

[Jake]

How stupid. It's the kind of politically correct decision that Eugene would make (and actually, there was a controversy here over a similar name change).

Eugene McCarthy County ?