November 2, 2022

Moscow Again

By roads-rus

Now that I have been to Moscow, ID twice, I feel eminently qualified to write about it. Ruth & I visited it long ago and went to it’s university’s theater. Then we went back to it last week to see its museum devoted to appaloosa horses. It was a fine experience and very busy. I am surprised to find so many towns named Moscow. They are everywhere in the United States, and most of them are named for Moscow, Russia, and exist because of immigration. According to the experts, there are 23 Moscows in the world. The one in Idaho is not too far from Pullman, WA and is the largest Moscow. The one in Russia is, of course, the largest Moscow in the world and an important city.

The other 21 Moscows in the United States are very small. Many have almost gone out of business despite the fact that several Russians live near us and in Aspen, CO. All of the other Moscows around are now unincorporated and fairly inconsequential. However, most of them are still on maps and have modest populations. The Moscow in Wisconsin, for example, has fewer than 600 people. Most of the towns remaining in the United States with this name are identified by their counties. Moscow, WI is in Iowa County.

The Moscow in West Virginia, also unincorporated, is on the Ohio River north of Wheeling and almost out of the state in Hancock County. It’s claim to fame is a casino. It’s often called New Lexington now.

The unincorporated Moscow in Virginia is in Augusta County south of Bridgewater. It is on the map and has few residents today. The Moscow in Ohio is also on the Ohio River.

The Moscow in Mississippi is in Kemper County southwest of De Kalb and has a population of about 30. It is, nevertheless, on the map.

The Moscow in Minnesota is definitely named after the Moscow in Russia. It lost its Post Office in 1903 and is now tiny.

There are modest Moscows in Maryland, Maine, Kentucky, Kansas, Iowa, Indiana of course, Illinois, and Arkansas. So many Moscows, and almost all of them don’t have Russians in them now.

There is even a Moscow in Texas. This town was named for the Moscow in Russia and had a population of only 17 in the year 2000. It’s in Polk County and is on my map of Texas. At one time it was a flourishing town with saloons, hotels, and streetcars but it did not grow.

Hank

About roads-rus

Since the beginning, I've had to avoid writing about the downside of travel in order to sell more than 100 articles. Just because something negative happened doesn't mean your trip was ruined. But tell that to publishers who are into 5-star cruise and tropical beach fantasies. I want to tell what happened on my way to the beach, and it may not have been all that pleasant. My number one rule of the road is...today's disaster is tomorrow's great story. My travel experiences have appeared in about twenty magazines and newspapers. I've been in all 50 states more than once and more than 50 countries. Ruth and I love to travel internationally--Japan, Canada, China, Argentina, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, etc. Within the next 2 years we will have visited all of the European countries. But our favorite destination is Australia. Ruth and I have been there 9 times. I've written a book about Australia's Outback, ALONE NEAR ALICE, which is available through both Amazon & Barnes & Noble. My first fictional work, MOVING FORWARD, GETTING NOWHERE, has recently been posted on Amazon. It's a contemporary, hopefully funny re-telling of The Odyssey. View all posts by roads-rus
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022 at 12:17 am and posted in Great City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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