It's now up to 77,000 signatures but I don't think you have to be from Columbus to sign it, so the weight this might have with Columbus officials is questionable. You can't see where the people who have signed the petition unless you sign it, and maybe not even then. The person who started the petition admits that they haven't read the city charter to find out what the process would be. It's just a publicity stunt. I think most people in Columbus really aren't for this, especially when they find out the cost to taxpayers for changing road signs, etc. and the general confusion it would cause.

If we’re renaming cities for the long-past sins of their namesakes now, how long has Athens got left?

Just thinking that if they do rename Columbus, they should just call it Capital City. (Although Cowtown is still my preference.) If they associate the new name with someone or some thing they run the risk of it having an offensive connotation in 20, 30 or 40 years.

I'm not sure I see the point being made about Athens. Whose long-past sins are we referring to? Athena?

I also don't think there's a real push to rename Columbus, right? There's an online petition to name the city after Guy Fieri, of course, but before we talk about being "off the reservation" and tax money, I'd wait for a real ballot initiative, at the very least.

Also, ironic to use the phrase 'off the reservation' in this particular conversation, given that its origin is related to how being 'off the reservation' was dangerous for Native Americans. And you know, so was meeting Christopher Columbus.

But ultimately, I'm with you. That towns are named after Columbus is something I'm indifferent to. It's not like the geographic area has any actual connection to Columbus, nor do residents of Columbus feel any particular pride about the source of the name. At this point, it's just a name.

Right, but the city of Athens is still named after Athena. Who had nothing to do with the slavery (being fake and all). So in this case, we'd be renaming a town because it shares a name with a city where bad things happened. As opposed to a city whose name is honoring somebody who did bad things.

Citation for (A): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens,_Ohio#:~:text=Previo... .

Citation for (B): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Athens

To be clear, I never said Athens took its name from Athena. I said "So in this case, we'd be renaming a town because it shares a name with a city where bad things happened." Though I wasn't super direct, I think the implication in sharing a name with Athens, Greece is that Athens, Ohio was named after the city, not Athena.

As for whether or not Athena is named after Athens or vice-versa, I'm still not sure I see why that's relevant to the discussion.

Columbus, Ohio is named to honor Christopher Columbus.

There's debate as to the origin of the name of Athens, Greece. It's either named to honor Athena, or it's name predates Athena and doesn't honor anybody in particular. In either case, my question still stands: if we were to rename Athens, OH, whose sins would we be disassociating ourselves from? The answer can either be a) Athena or b) the city of Athens, Greece.

If it's a) what are the sins?

If it's b) the precedent being set is that no place can be named after another place where bad things have happened. In this case, the bad thing is slavery. Slavery took place in cities all over the United States. If Athens, OH has to be re-named because of slavery in Athens, Greece what do we do with the American South? Rename the whole thing?

And for the record, I know you're not arguing in favor of a renaming here. I'm just pointing out that bad things happen pretty much everywhere. And there are plenty of people to name cities after who haven't raped and murdered thousands of people.

I was not aware of that, no. But then I’m not from Atlanta, nor do i much care for it (Ohio born and raised). What were it’s previous 2 names?

David McCulouhg's recent book "The Pioneers" ,a great read by the way,goes into a lot of detail about the the importance the Ohio Company placed on all levels of education.

They chose the name Athens for where O.U. would be located to honor the legacy of learning that came from Athens,Greece.

CSPAN occasionally runs interviews with and lectures by David McCullough. One was at the JFK Library in 2017. He was asked who was the most interesting person he ever researched and he responded that it was Manasseh Cutler. A big reason is that Cutler almost single-handedly successfully lobbied for the Northwest Ordinance, which assured that the Ordinance would promote public primary and secondary education, protect civil liberties, and prohibit slavery throughout the Territory. Ironically, in that same interview he discussed the pandemic of 2018 and how a similar pandemic today would kill more than a million Americans. In another show he discussed "Pioneers". The show was recorded at the Ohio Statehouse early last year, I think. He had great things to say about Ohio University and how he makes it a point to stop there if he can when he's in the neighborhood.

"Terminus indeed."- W.T. Sherman

Been wondering whether Six Flags will have to change its name to Five Flags. The original park was Six Flags over Texas, referring to the national flags that have flown over Texas through the years -- Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, United States, and the Confederacy. Since all things Confederate are being removed from public view, should Six Flags follow suit?