New Name for Vancouver?

You have to love the tee-shirt that Vancouver, Washington's Gene Wigglesworth has designed. It says, "Vancouver (not B.C), Washington (not D.C.), Clark County (not Nevada), Near Portland, Oregon (not Maine)." Things can get a little confusing in our Vancouver and having the Olympics in that other Vancouver doesn't help. Wigglesworth has lived here since 1977 and he told the New York Times that his mother always thought he lived in Canada.

Some Vancouverites are talking about changing the city's name to Fort Vancouver. . There are sound historic reasons to rename the city. According to National Park Service historian Greg Shine, Fort Vancouver not only was here before the city, it was the reason the city was settled. A village was built next to the fort for employees. In addition to housing the Hudson's Bay Company, the army base kept the name Fort Vancouver through the Civil War. The historic Grant House--the most elegant of the wonderful houses on Officers' Row--was part of Fort Vancouver. The City has long, and rightly, had a goal of better connecting the historic reserve to downtown. What better way could Vancouver connect with its history than to rename itself. Meanwhile that other Vancouver keeps hogging more and more attention.

True, Vancouverites voted against a name change back in 1975. But that was 34 years ago and maybe it's time to vote again. It would be good for the city's identity over and above the drop in confusion with that other Vancouver. But, as a side benefit, no longer would out-of-state moms think their kids--proud residents of Fort Vancouver--lived in Canada.