US Place Names ~ Rabbit Ears Mountains, Colorado to Ridgeway, New York

Rabbit Ears; mountain of the Park Range, Colorado, so named on account of its resemblance to a rabbit ear.

Rabun; county in Georgia, named for William Rabun, an early governor of the State.

Raccoon; creek in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. A corruption of the Indian arrath-kune or arathcone, the procyon lotor of the naturalist.

Racine; county, and city in same county, in Wisconsin, situated at the mouth of Root River. A French word meaning "root."

Radersburg; town in Broadwater County, Montana, named for William Rader, one of the early settlers.

Radford; village in Christian County, Illinois, named for George Radford, a land-holder.

Radford; city in Montgomery County, Virginia, named for William Radford, a prominent citizen.

Radnor; village in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, named from the town in Wales.

Radom; village in Washington County, Illinois, named from the province of Russia in Poland.

Ragged; mountain in Knox County, Maine, so named on account of its ragged appearance.

Rahway; river in New Jersey. Said to be derived from the Indian word nawakwa, meaning "in the middle of the forest."

Rahway; city in Union County, New Jersey, named for the Indian sachem, Rahwack.

Rainier; town in Columbia County, Oregon, and mountain in Washington, named for Rear-Admiral Rainier, of the British navy.

Rains; county in Texas, named for Emory Rains, who was prominent in the politics of the Republic and later in those of the State.

Rainsville; town in Warren County, Indiana, named for the proprietor Isaac Rains.

Rainy; lake in Minnesota. A translation of the original French name, lac de la pluie, "lake of the rain."

Raisin; river in Michigan, so named on account of the abundance of grapes which formerly grew upon its banks.

Raleigh; town in Smith County, Mississippi, city in Wake County, North Carolina, town in Shelby County, Tennessee, and county in West Virginia, named for Sir Walter Raleigh.

Ralls; county in Missouri, named for John Ralls, member of the State legislature, 1820-1821.

Ralston; village in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, named for Matthew C. Ralston.

Ramseur; town in Randolph County, North Carolina, named for Gen. Stephen Ramseur.

Ramsey; township and village in Fayette County, Illinois, and counties in Minnesota and North Dakota, named for the war governor of Minnesota, Hon. Alexander Ramsey, afterwards United States Senator.

Ranchita; towns in Los Angeles and Riverside counties, California. A Spanish term, meaning "little ranch."

Randall; county in Texas, named for Horace Randall, a brigadier-general of the Confederacy.

Randalls; island in New York, named for Jonathan Randall, who owns it.

Randleman; town in Randolph County, North Carolina, named for a prominent citizen.

Randolph; counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Missouri; towns in Coos County, New Hampshire, Cattaraugus County, New York, and Orange County, Vermont; named for John Randolph, of Roanoke, Virginia.

Randolph; county in Illinois, named for Beverly Randolph, governor of Virginia, 1788-1791.

Randolph; township in McLean County, Illinois, named for Gardner Randolph, an early settler.

Randolph; county in Indiana, named for Thomas Randolph, killed at Tippecanoe.

Randolph; town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, and county in North Carolina, named for Peyton Randolph, of Virginia.

Randolph; village in Dakota County, Nebraska, named for the first mail carrier between Sioux City and Elkhorn Valley, Jasper Randolph.

Randolph; township in Portage County, Ohio, named for Henry Randolph Storrs, its original proprietor.

Randolph; county in West Virginia, named for Edmund Randolph, an early governor.

Randsburg; mining town in Kern County, California, named from the town in South Africa.

Rangeley; town and plantation in Franklin County, and chain of lakes in Franklin and Oxford counties, Maine, named for an Englishman, an early settler and large landowner.

Rankin; county in Mississippi, named for Christopher Rankin, congressman from that State.

Ransom; village in Lasalle County, Illinois, named for Gen. Thomas E. G. Ransom, an Illinois officer of the civil war.

Ransom; village in Hillsdale County, Michigan, named for Epaphroditus Ransom, former governor of the State.

Ransom; county in North Dakota, named for Fort Ransom. Ransomville; village in Niagara County, New York, named for Clark Ransom, one of the first settlers.

Rantoul; township and village in Champaign County, Illinois, named for Robert Rantoul, a railroad incorporator.

Rapho; township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A corruption of an Indian word, meaning "a fort of tents."

Rapidan; river in Virginia, named for Anne, Queen of England, ''rapid Anne."

Rapides; parish in Louisiana. A French word meaning "rapids," and given this parish on account of the rapids or falls in the Red River.

Rappahannock; river and county in Virginia. An Indian word meaning "stream with an ebb and flow," or "river of quick-rising water."

Raquette; river in Hamilton County, New York, from the French word meaning "snowshoe."

Raritan; stream and a town in Somerset County, New Jersey. An Indian word meaning "forked river."

Raspberry; island, one of the Apostles, in Lake Superior. A translation of an Indian word, meaning "raspberries are plentiful here."

Rathbone; town in Steuben County, New York, named for Gen. Ransom Rathbone, an early settler.

Raton; village in Las Animas County, Colorado. A Spanish word meaning "mouse."

Raumaug; lake in Litchfield County, Connecticut. A corruption of the Indian word wonkemaug, meaning "crooked fishing place."

Ravalli; county in Montana, named for the noted Jesuit missionary.

Ravenna; village in Portage County, Ohio, named for the city in Italy.

Ravenswood; substation in Long Island City, New York, because of the thousands of crows who made their home in the surrounding woods.

Ravenswood; town in Jackson County, West Virginia, named for the Ravensworths, a family of England, but misspelled by the engravers in making the first maps and never corrected.

Rawhide; creek in Nebraska, said to be so named because a white man was flayed upon its banks by a party of Pawnee Indians.

Rawlins; county in Kansas and city in Carbon County, Wyoming, named for John A. Rawlins, secretary of war under President Grant.

Ray; creek in California, named for an early settler.

Ray; county in Missouri, named for John Ray, a member of the convention which formed the State constitution.

Raymond; village in Madera County, California, named for Raymond Whitcomb, who organized a party of tourists to make the trip to the Yosemite by stages from this point.

Raymond; town in Cumberland County, Maine, named for Capt. William Raymond.

Raymond; town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, named for John Raymond, a grantee.

Raymondville; village in St. Lawrence County, New York, named for Benjamin Raymond, first agent.

Raymore; town in Cass County, Missouri, named for two railroad men of St. Louis, Messrs. Ray and Moore.

Raynham; town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, named from the parish of Rainham, Essex County, England.

Raysville; village in Henry County, Indiana, named for Governor Ray.

Reading; town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, named for Col. John Read, an early settler.

Reading; town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, named from the town in Berkshire, England.

Readsboro; town in Bennington County, Vermont, named for John Read, one of the original patentees.

Readstown; village in Vernon County, Wisconsin, named for its founder.

Reagan; county in Texas, named for John H. Reagan, a member of the Confederate cabinet.

Rector; town in Clay County, Arkansas, named for Wharton or Elias Rector, distinguished in the early Indian affairs of the State.

Red; range of mountains in Alabama, so called on account of its hematite ores.

Red; river in Arkansas, so named on account of the color of the sediment with which it is freighted.

Red; lake in Beltrami County, Minnesota. The name is a translation of the Ojibway name, referring to the unruffled surface of the lake reflecting the red sunset.

Red; group of mountains in Wyoming, so named because formed of porphyry, which becomes dark red when exposed to the sun.

Red Bank; towns in Marshall County, Mississippi, and Monmouth County, New Jersey, so named on account of the reddish appearance of the river banks.

Red Bluff; township and city in Tehama County, California, so named from the reddish color of a high bank of the Sacramento River, near which the city is located.

Redbud; villages in Walker County, Alabama, and Gordon County, Georgia, city in Randolph County, Illinois, and village in Cowley County, Kansas, so named because of the presence of the redbud, a small ornamental tree.

Bed Cap; creek in California, named for a near-by mine.

Red Cedar; river in Iowa, so named from the abundance of cedar trees which formerly grew along its banks.

Bed Cloud; city in Webster County, Nebraska, named for the celebrated Sioux Indian chief.

Redden; village in Sussex County, Delaware, named for Col. William O. Redden.

Redding; city in Shasta County, California, named for Major Bedding, one of the earliest American pioneers.

Redfield; town in Dallas County, Iowa, named for Colonel Redfield.

Redfield; township and city in Spink County, South Dakota, named for J. B. Redfield, a director of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

Redford; village in Wayne County, Michigan, so named because it was a fording place on the river Rouge.

Red Hook; town in Dutchess County, New York. A translation of the original Dutch name, Roode Hoeck, which was given it on account of a near-by marsh covered with cranberries.

Red Jacket; village in Erie County, New York, named for a chief of the Seneca Indians, who derived his name from the brilliant red jacket which he wore, given him by a British officer.

Red Lake; county in Minnesota, named from the lake in Beltrami County.

Red Oak; city in Montgomery County, Iowa, so named on account of a nearby grove of trees of this species.

Redondo Beach; city in Los Angeles County, California, named from a Spanish word meaning "round."

Red River; parish in Louisiana, and county in Texas, named from the Red River, which borders Texas on the north.

Red River of the North; rises in Elbow Lake, Minnesota, and enters Lake Winnipeg. Named from Red Lake in Minnesota.

Red Rock; town in Douglas County, Minnesota, so named on account of a nearby granite boulder painted red by the Indians.

Red Rock; village in Columbia County, New York, named for a red rock, surmounted by a wooden column 10 feet high bearing the date 1825.

Redstone; branch of the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania, derived from the Indian word machkachsen, meaning "red stone creek."

Redwillow; county in Nebraska, so named on account of the abundance of trees of this species.

Redwing; city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, named for an Indian chief.

Redwood; city in San Mateo County, California, so named because of the abundance of redwood timber in the vicinity.

Redwood; river in Indiana. Derived from the Indian words musqua me tig, meaning "redwood tree river."

Redwood; river in Minnesota, draining into the Minnesota River. The name is a translation of the Dakota (Sioux), name referring to the abundant growth along the river of cornel, a bush with a red bark.

Redwood; county in Minnesota, named from the river.

Read; township in Butler County, Nebraska, named for David Reed, a pioneer.

Reed City; village in Osceola County, Michigan, named for its founder, James M. Reed.

Reedsburg; city in Sauk County, Wisconsin, named for D. C. Reed, an early settler.

Reedy; town in Roane County, West Virginia, named for a creek where reeds grow abundantly.

Reese; valley and river in Nevada, named for a guide.

Reese; stream in Lander County, Nevada, named for an early settler.

Reeseville; village in Dodge County, Wisconsin, named for Samuel Reese, the first settler.

Reeves; county in Texas, named for George H. Reeves.

Reesesville; town in Dorchester County, South Carolina, named for a prominent family of the vicinity.

Refugio; town in Santa Barbara County, California. The Spanish form of "refuge."

Refugio; county, and town in same county, in Texas, named for a Mexican missionary establishment on the Mission River.

Rehoboth; town in Sussex County, Delaware, given this scriptural name because it was first established as a place for yearly camp meetings. A Hebrew word meaning "room," or "enlargements."

Rehoboth; town in Bristol County, Massachusetts; a Hebrew word meaning "ample room." Said to have been founded by William Blackstone and so named by him as significant of his aim: "Room outside of the narrow confines of Puritan intolerance." Another authority ascribes the name to Rev. Samuel Newman, who established a church there and gave the town this name because "the Lord hath made room for us."

Reidsville; village in Knox County, Nebraska, named for Charles J. Reid, the first settler.

Reidsville; town in Rockingham County, North Carolina, named for David S. Reid, a former governor.

Remsen; town in Oneida County, New York, named for Henry Remsen, a patentee.

Rennert; town in Robeson County, North Carolina, named for a prominent resident.

Rene; county in Kansas, town in Washoe County, Nevada, and village in Venango County, Pennsylvania, named for Gen. Jesse L. Reno.

Renovo; borough in Clinton County, Pennsylvania. Derived from the Latin, re, "again," and novua, "new."

Rensselaer; city in Jasper County, Indiana, named for John Van Rensselaer, of New York State.

Rensselaer; county in New York;

Rensselaerville; town in Albany County, New York. Named for Kilian van Rensselaer, who planted a colony on his lands to be known as Rensselaerwyck, now as above.

Benville; county in Minnesota, named for Joseph Renville, an Indian trader and prominent citizen.

Represa; town in Sacramento County, California. A Spanish word meaning "milldam."

Republic; county in Kansas, named from the Pawnee Republic, a principal division of the Pawnee Indians formerly located in this county.

Republic; township, and town in Marquette County, in Michigan, named from the iron ore mines in the Marquette Range.

Republican; village in Harlan County, Nebraska, named from the Republican River.

Revere; town in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, named for Paul Revere.

Revillagigedo; group of islands off the coast of Alaska, named for Conde Revila Gigedo, viceroy of New Spain.

Reynolds; county in Missouri, named for Thomas Reynolds, a former governor.

Rreynoldsburg; village in Franklin County, Ohio, probably named for Jeremiah N. Reynolds.

Reynoldsville; borough in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, named for Thomas

Reynolds, an old citizen. Rhea; county in Tennessee, named for John Rhea, congressman-elect at the time the county was organized.

Rhinebeck; town in Dutchess County, New York. A combination of the names of the man who founded the town, William Beekman, and his native town, Rhineland.

Rhinecliff; town in Dutchess County, New York, so named by the early settlers who came from the Rhine River in Germany.

Rhinelander; city in Oneida County, Wisconsin, named for F. W. Rhinelander, president of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway.

Rhode Island; one of the original thirteen States, said to have received its name from a small island in Narragansett Bay named Roode Eylandt "red island;" according to another authority, named for the island of Rhodes.

Rib; river in Wisconsin. A translation of an Indian word.

Rice; county in Kansas, named for Brig. Gen. Samuel A. Rice.

Rice; county in Minnesota, named for Senator Henry M. Rice, a pioneer.

Rice Lake; city in Barron County, Wisconsin, so called because situated on a lake where wild rice is abundant.

Riceville; town in Mitchell County, Iowa, named for three brothers.

Rich; county in Utah, named for Apostle Charles C. Rich, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

Richardson; town in Monterey County, California, named by settlers from Richard-son County, Nebraska.

Richardson; county in Nebraska, named for William A. Richardson, former governor of the Territory.

Richburg; town in Allegany County, New York, named in honor of Alvan Richardson, the first settler who went there from Otsego County in 1819.

Richburg; town in Chester County, South Carolina, named for a prominent family.

Richfield; city in Morton County, Kansas, so named because it was thought it would prove a "rich field.*'

Richfield; township in Summit County, Ohio. The name originated from a weed which grew abundantly, known as richweed, corrupted to richfield, and applied to the settlement.

Richfield Springs; village in Otsego County, New York, so named because of the excellent character of the soil and the abundance of springs.

Rich Hill; city in Bates County, Missouri, so named because of the fertile hill lands around it.

Richland; county in Illinois, named by the first settlers from Richland County, Ohio.

Richland; parish in Louisiana, and counties in North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, so named because of the rich character of the soil.

Richmond; town in Contra Costa County, California, and cities in Wayne County, Indiana, and Madison County, Kentucky, named from Richmond, Virginia.

Richmond; county in Georgia, town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and counties in New York and North Carolina, named for Lennox, Duke of Richmond.

Richmond; town in Washington County, Rhode Island, thought to have been named for Edward Richmond, attorney-general of the colony.

Richmond; county, and city in Henrico County, Virginia, so named on account of the resemblance to Richmond, Surry County, England.

Richthofen; mountain in Colorado named for the geologist.

Richville; village in St. Lawrence County, New York, named for Salmon Rich, an early settler.

Richwood; village in Union County, Ohio, so named because of the fertility of the soil and the heavy growths of timber.

Rickreal; river and village in Polk County, Oregon. A corruption of the French la Creole, meaning "the Creole."

Ridgefield; borough in Bergen County, New Jersey;

Ridge Spring; town in Saluda County, South Carolina;

Ridgeville; town in Dorchester County, South Carolina;

Ridgeway; towns in Orleans County, New York, and Fairfield County, South Carolina. So named on account of the presence of ridges nearby.

US Place Names

Source: The Origin of Certain Place Names the United States, Second Edition, Henry Gannett, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1906.