

Back in 2021 on December 13 I wrote an essay called “Towns Named Lewis Don’t Exist”. At the time I was reading a book called Lincoln Highway. The author invented a town named Lewis in Nebraska. I mentioned that no such town exists. In fact, there was no town by the name of Lewis anywhere.
I mentioned a Lewiston in Vermont and began some research about the town. I found that it was actually a town that began life as “Lewis” and has ceased to exist, but then I found that it still exists with a population of 2. So there is a Lewis after all.

Is there a Lewiston today? I mentioned that 16 of them exist, but I can’t find evidence for more than 7. The rest are probably very small and unincorporated. The largest Lewiston remains the city in the state of Maine, and the 2nd largest Lewiston is the town in western Idaho. The Snake River flows through it.
There are definitely Lewistons in Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Utah, and Nebraska. There are two places with the name Lewistown. They are in Montana and Illinois. The Montana Lewistown is in the middle of this huge state and has about 6,000 residents.
There are Lewisvilles in Arkansas and North Carolina for sure. The largest city in Kentucky is called Louisville, but its spelled with a u instead of a w. The Kentucky Derby is run there.
There are at least 4 Lewisburgs. They are in the states of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. There’s even a town named Lewisdale in the state of Maryland, but it’s not findable on any map I own.

There are counties named Lewis in 7 states. But the strangest Lewis of all is in Newfoundland, Canada. It’s called Lewisporte and is a town of more than 3,000 people not too far from the city of Gander, the setting for the super show Far From Away.
Hank