Two of the city's nicknames reflect its historic links to transportation: Crossroads of America and Railroad City. This partial list of city nicknames in Indiana compiles the aliases, nicknames and slogans by which Indiana cities and towns are known (or have historically been known by), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders, or their tourist boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help establish a civic identity, help outsiders recognize a community, or attract people to a community because of their nickname; promote civic pride and build community unity. Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new ideology or community myth are also believed to have economic value.
Their economic value is difficult to measure, but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by branding themselves by adopting new slogans. Indy is the best city nickname in the world. Why else is Indy such a good nickname? If Indy were an animal, it would be a small kitten that fits in your pocket. According to a story I invented, Indianapolis grew out of the love of its founders for the name Annapolis.
His friends already called their adopted land Annapolis, so the founders of Indy decided to name their newborn city differently enough to avoid any trademark problems, hence Indianapolis's longest name and the obvious need for a cute nickname. Unlike life, the meaning of Indy is simple. According to some people who may or may not have simply searched it on Google, Indianapolis means Indiana city. Which fortunately was condensed into a single word (with so many syllables, unfortunately), and then shortened back to Indy.
Why should you remember the minor nickname Indianapolis Naptown when the name itself suggests you shut up, close your eyes and try not to drool over yourself? After the thrill of the Super Bowl, there is no reason to use such a sleepy name. And Indy is not Chi-Town. Those who call Chicago home don't appreciate it when you pronounce the Chi part of Chi-Town as the Chi part of Chicago. What is known is that the nickname Hoosier became widespread in the 1830s.
It is one of the oldest and most popular state nicknames. Hoosier Identifies State's Rustic Individualism and Indiana Residents Embrace Moniker Proudly. Indianapolis has the nickname “Naptown” because throughout its history many people have seen the city as a rather slow and not so exciting place. It also received that nickname in part because Indianapolis can be long and difficult to say with six syllables, while Nap Town is considerably more concise.
The first reference to “Naptown” in Hoosier State Chronicles, a free database of Indiana newspapers hosted at the Indiana State Library, comes from a 1927 Indianapolis Recorder article on jazzy musicians. Although Indianapolis developed a rather dubious reputation as the headquarters of Indiana's Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s, there are no known nicknames or titles attributed to the city for that connection. Indianapolis's nickname “Naptown” has taken on dubious connotations over the years, not as a quick little nickname for a city with more syllables than its fair share, but as an ironic reminder of its supposedly sleepy nature. The Indianapolis Times didn't start using the term until the 1940s, and even then, it was rare and was often kept in quotation marks to ensure it looked like a nickname.
The Recorder frequently displayed the nickname, using it in another 1927 article about an Indianapolis women's volleyball team playing in St. The national media described Indianapolis with such accolades as the “Star of the Snow Belt”, the “Cinderella of the Rust Belt”, a “Corn Belt City with the Sizzling of the Sun Belt” and a “Diamond in the Rust”. Simins described how Evansville Argus, also a black newspaper, also began to use “Naptown” interchangeably with “Indianapolis”. But its roots in Indianapolis's rich history of black culture reveal how misunderstood “Naptown” is, both in nickname and character.
By 1939, the Indianapolis Jewish Post also regularly used the nickname “Naptown” in articles on local sports. The first use on the Argus was in reference to esteemed Indianapolis lawyer and political leader Henry Richarson. By the mid-1980s, Indianapolis had experienced a kind of revival and much of the American public saw it in an increasingly positive light. The author Meredith Nicholson, in an article published in the Atlantic Monthly in June 1904, described Indianapolis as a “city of homes”.
It is believed that Indianapolis, which is called Nap Town, was popularized by jazzy musicians in the 1930s. Jackson's Ku Klux Klan In The City, 1915-1930 (196), called Indianapolis the “unparalleled stronghold of the Invisible Empire in Central America.”. . .
