Invented/Industrial
Minneapolis
Minnesota (MN)est. 1856pop. 425,336/min-ee-AP-uh-lis/
The meaning
“Water city”
How it got the name
A schoolteacher named Charles Hoag proposed welding the Dakota word mni ('water') to the Greek polis ('city'). The hybrid beat out the rival suggestion of 'All Saints.' It is one of the few American place-names deliberately manufactured from two unrelated languages.
Former names
- St. Anthony (east bank, later merged)
- Minneapolis