Twin Cities (was New York City and State)

[Tom Kysilko]

At 01:25 PM 4/11/2001 EDT, James A. Landau wrote:
>Does anybody know when Minneapolis and St. Paul first used the designation
>"Twin Cities"?

The city of St Paul acquired its name in 1841.  The city of Minneapolis was
chartered in 1867, although a village of Minneapolis existed since the
1840's.  So you'd think the Making of America would be a great place to
look.  Here are all the hits for "Twin Cities" in the UMich collection:

Davenport (IA) - Rock Island (IL) from 1858
Pittsburg - Wolverhampton from 1870
Fargo (ND) - Moorhead (MN) from 1873
New York - Brooklyn from 1885
San Francisco - Oakland from 1896 and 1899
Minneapolis - St Paul from 1891

In 1893 there is a reference to Twin Cities with no cities named.  However,
named in the same sentence is an "Archbishop Ireland" who was an early
Bishop in St Paul (John Ireland Blvd runs from the Capitol to the
Cathedral).  This is (admittedly thin) evidence that at least by 1893, you
could mention the Twin Cities and expect your readers to know that you
meant Mpls/St Paul.

If you were serious about chasing this down, I'd suggest (excuse me, a guy
could look at) the morgue of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  The paper is
still published, but goes back to before statehood.


  Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
  pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA