How does a small town go about changing it's name? How long does it
take and what is the process?

---

Request for Question Clarification by mvguy-ga on 21 Jun 2002 11:29 PDT

Which jurisdicion (such as country and state or province) is this town
under?  In the United States, at least, the answer would be a matter
of state law.  Thanks!

Hello katgirl99-ga,

Thanks for using this great forum.

I've found a document, which gives the steps along with the rules for
changing the name of a small town. It is a pdf file. Here is the link
http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title36/ar5/ch1.2.pdf

As mvguy-ga suggested, in United States, the law varies by each state.
The above details are not generalized steps but approximately, they
are going to be the same for your area also.

You can contact your local area council to find out the exact
procedure but as commented by morris-ga and jdog-ga, town council vote
is the most important thing for the name change to take place.

Search Terms

how to change a town's name:
://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=how+to+change+a+town%27s+name&btnG=Google+Search

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask for clarifications (if any) and if
you are satisfied with this answer, please rate it.

Regards
netcrazy

It appears to require a vote, either by the citizens or the council.
I'll give a few example links where this is reported, and leave the
question for somebody with more knowledge in the area.

New Jersey town renamed by vote of citizens in 1976:

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/campbell/nji/OldBridge.htm

Virginia town renamed by citizen's vote in 1924

http://www.bluefieldva.net/

Oregon town council renames town in 1999:

http://corp.half.com/pressfiles/arkansas122099.html

North Carolina alderman change town name in 2001:

http://www.thetimesnews.com/2000/00-12/00-12-31/news-1.html

I have also come to the same conclusion. It appears that a vote by the
town council is enough.

I would think that a MAJOR hurdle would exist in the case where the
town had a Post Office - getting the USPS to change a town name in its
records must be a herculean accomplishment.

Phone company records?  

About two years ago our city council changed the spelling of our town
from "Mt. Pleasant" to (and insisting upon) "Mount Pleasant).  Well,
wouldn't ya know, they built a new post office facilty which opened
just a few months ago, a facility which sports shiny metal letters on
the brick face:  Mt. Pleasant.

Mapmakers?  

whew.