List of city nicknames in Washington explained

The following is a list of nicknames, aliases, sobriquets and slogans for municipalities and unincorporated communities in the U.S. state of Washington.

City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.^[1] Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth" are also believed to have economic value. Their economic value is difficult to measure, but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.^[2]

This list includes both official and unofficial nicknames. Some of the nicknames that were used historically may no longer be in use.

• Aberdeen – Port of Missing Men^[3]
• Algona – City of the Great Blue Heron
• Auburn – More Than You Imagined
• Bellevue – City in a Park
• Bellingham
  • City of Subdued Excitement^[4]
  • Let Us Surprise You
• Blaine – The Peace Arch City^[5]
• Bothell – For a Day or a Lifetime
• Burien – B-Town
• Burlington – The Hub City^[6]
• Chehalis – Rose City^[7]
• Chewelah – Place For All Seasons^[8]
• Colville – Washington's Most Livable Community
• Cosmopolis – City of the World
• Enumclaw – The Gateway to Mount Rainier
• Everett – Milltown, City of Smokestacks
• Forks – The Logging Capital of the World^[9]
• Gig Harbor – The Maritime City
• Ilwaco – By Land or By Sea
• Kelso
  • City of Friendly People
  • Smelt Capital of the World^[10]
• Kirkland
  • Gateway to Seattle (adopted in 1926)
  • The Little City that Could^[11]
• Lynden – The Gem City^[12]
• Marysville – The Strawberry City^[13]
• Morton – Home of the Loggers Jubilee^[14]
• Mount Vernon – The City of Tulips
  • • Olympia Oly
  • The Town (The original city nicknamed The Town)
• Port Townsend, Washington - The Key City; The City of Dreams
• Poulsbo – Little Norway^[15]
• Pullman – Lentil Capital^[16]
• Puyallup – The Land of Generous People^[17]
• Redmond – Bicycle Capital of the Northwest
• Richland
  • The Windy Town
  • City Of the Bombers
  • Atomic City^[18]
• Seattle
  • City of Flowers (adopted in the 1940s)
  • Emerald City: official since 1982^[19]
  • Jet City: for the prominence of the aerospace industry, especially Boeing.^[20]
  • Queen City (of the Pacific Northwest): official from 1869–1982^{[19] [21]}
  • Sea-Town
• Sedro-Woolley – Gateway to the North Cascades^[22]
• Sequim – Sunny Sequim^[23]
• Spokane – The Lilac City^[24]
• Sumner – Rhubarb Pie Capital^[25]
  • • Tacoma America’s #1 Wired City^{[2] [26]}
  • The City of Destiny – Applied in 1873 when Tacoma was the terminus for the Northern Pacific Railroad.^{[27] [28]}
  • Tackyoma^[26]
  • T-Town^[29]
  • Grit City^[30]
• Tumwater – Green Town
• Walla Walla – The City was so Nice, They Named it Twice^[31]
• Wenatchee – Apple Capital of the World.^{[27] [16] [32]}
  • • White Center Rat City
  • Dub Sea
• White Salmon – The Land Where the Sun Meets the Rain^[33]
• Yakima – The Palm Springs of Washington^[26]

See also

• List of city nicknames in the United States
• List of cities in Washington
• List of towns in Washington
• List of census-designated places in Washington
• List of unincorporated communities in Washington

Notes and References

1. Muench, David "Wisconsin Community Slogans: Their Use and Local Impacts", December 1993, accessed April 10, 2007.
2. Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City :), MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007
3. Elizabeth Gibson, Outlaw Tales of Washington, Globe Pequot, 2001., . This label was attached to Aberdeen after a string of murders in the early 20th century.
4. Web site: www.Bellingham-Subdued-Excitement.com . 2010-11-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080413141411/http://www.bellingham-subdued-excitement.com/history-of-bellingham.html . 2008-04-13 . dead .
5. http://www.ci.blaine.wa.us/index.aspx?NID=201 City of Blaine website
6. Ralph Schwartz, A walk down memory lane in Burlington, Skagit Valley Herald, July 20, 2009
7. Web site: 5/11/2010 Forget Friendly — Chehalis Happy Being The Rose City City of Chehalis Washington Official Website. www.ci.chehalis.wa.us. 2019-10-02.
8. Web site: Introduction - Chewelah Chamber of Commerce . 2021-09-24 . 2021-02-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210227205000/https://chewelah.org/ . live .
9. Ellis E. Conklin, FORSAKEN BY TIMBER, FORKS IS AT A CROSSROADS LOGGING CAPITAL GRASPS AT FANTASY LAND FOR SURVIVAL, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Friday, April 20, 1990, Section: News, Page: A1
10. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/fish.html Claims to Fame - Fish
11. James Vesely, Kirkland Shows Its Angst And Looks For Solutions, The Seattle Times, November 24, 1997
12. http://www.lyndentribune.com/node/130 Lynden early history well documented in printer's ink
13. http://ci.marysville.wa.us/ParksAndRec/parks.aspx City of Marysville website
14. http://www.chronline.com/the-granddaddy-of-all-logging-shows-rolls-on-in-morton/article_90bec69a-9a6b-11e8-9198-1f81292586d1.html
15. Gil Bailey, Poulsbo: There's a lot to 'Little Norway', Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 23, 1998
16. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/agriculture.html Claims to Fame - Agriculture
17. Web site: Puyallup Tribe - Home . 2021-09-24 . 2021-09-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210919032405/http://puyallup-tribe.com/ . live .
18. Web site: Kiwanis Club of Atomic City, Richland, Washington . 2014-05-05 . 2020-11-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201127165534/http://wa.14thstory.com/kiwanis-club-of-atomic-city-richland-washington.html . live .
19. Lange, Greg. Seattle receives epithet Queen City in 1869 . HistoryLink, November 4, 1998. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
20. Web site: History of Seattle: The "Jet City" Takes Off . Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau . https://web.archive.org/web/20061002171554/http://www.seeseattle.org/media/presskits/PKHistory.asp . 2006-10-02. 2007-10-01.
21. [Nard Jones]
22. Web site: depicted on city's main welcome sign . 2011-01-11 . 2010-12-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101224033309/http://www.ci.sedro-woolley.wa.us/Home/main.htm . live .
23. Web site: referred to many times on official government website . 2021-09-24 . 2013-01-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130109042023/http://www.sequimwa.gov/ . live .
24. http://www.spokanelilacfestival.org/history.html History of the Spokane Lilac Festival
25. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/food.html Claims to Fame - Food
26. http://www.taglineguru.com/monikerlist.html U.S. City Monikers
27. Karen Gaudette, What's in a motto? It's a city's "brand", The Seattle Times, March 21, 2006
28. Jeff Larsen, Short Trips: Revitalized city catches up to its destiny, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 13, 2003
29. Larson, John. Metal band looks to break out of T-town . Tacoma Weekly, December 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
30. See, generally, Web site: Grit City . 2008-04-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080412213221/http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/gritcity/ . 2008-04-12 . dead .
31. http://www.taglineguru.com/citymottosmonikers.html Tagline Guru City Branding Survey
32. Web site: The World Capital of Whatever. The New York Times. Harold. Faber. 1993-09-12. 2018-11-15. 2008-04-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20080418221645/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9F0CE6DC1430F931A2575AC0A965958260. live.
33. Web site: About the City of White Salmon . City of White Salmon Washington . 2017-09-11 . 2022-08-27.