How US towns ended up being called China

What is the largest "China town" in the US? If you answered New York, you would be technically incorrect.

Because by China town, I don't mean neighborhoods in major cities with large Chinese populations.

Three small towns in the US - in Maine, Michigan and Texas - are actually named China.

These towns came across their names not by any exotic history with Chinese settlers or some ancient silk trade, but rather by chance.

China, Maine, in Kennebec County, northeast of the state capital of Augusta, has a population of 4,500, making it the largest of the US Chinas.

In 1818, parts of Harlem, Albion and Winslow were broken off to become the current town of China. They had originally decided to call the town Bloomville.

Maine was then a part of Massachusetts, and in those days, Boston, the legislative seat, was a week's trip by horse and wagon. The area's representative, Japheth C. Washburn, was discouraged from using the name Bloomville due to objections from nearby Bloomfield, which was concerned about mail-delivery confusion.

So Washburn, 320 kilometers away with no telephone or telegraph, needed an alternative.

The hymn China, written by Timothy Swan in 1790, was a favorite of his, and the rest is history.

"Over the years, I have had many, many Chinese tourists stop at our town office and come in and ask us questions about the name of our town," Becky Hapgood, the town clerk for the past 23 years, said. "Often they are either seen out front posing by our town office sign or we kindly oblige and help them with a group photo.

"We all enjoy the visitors from away as they relish the town's name that is the same as their country," she said. "Many ask how we got our name and if there is anything with 'Town of China' on it that they may have as a souvenir. ... We have even had some stop by one year and return a couple of years later with others to show them the name of our town.

"We'd love to have a sister city/town (in China)," she said.

Next up is China, Michigan, in St. Clair County, near Lake Huron: population 3,551.

Michigan's China got its moniker in 1834, after an early explorer, Captain John Clark, landed there.

As China Township Clerk Dan Turke tells the story, Clark's wife inspired the town's name because it reminded her of their old hometown - none other than China, Maine.

China, Texas, in Jefferson County, near Beaumont, is the smallest of the US Chinas, with 1,160 residents. The town is supported by agriculture, especially rice, and by nearby oil and natural gas fields. Coincidentally, China recently agreed to expand imports of US natural gas.

China, Texas was first known as China Grove, for a railroad water stop that sat amid a chinaberry tree grove. In the 1860s, a small community grew around the water stop.

(For the record, there is an East China, Michigan, and a China Grove, Texas, near San Antonio.)

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com