Intimately Bound

3452, originally uploaded by J D J Ford.

Immortalized by Homer's epic poems, the island of Ithaca quietly occupies the Ionian Sea. Many historians have argued whether or not the tiny, mountainous island was actually the home of Homer in spite of the 1800-year-old coins depicting Ulysses. The island has been governed by the Venetians, French, Turkish, and Romans at various times.

After the American War for Independence the state of New York decided to survey its Western frontier. Soldiers who fought in the war were awarded with fresh tracts of land starting at 600 acres. Simeon DeWitt and his clerk Robert Harpur chose the names of the newly created townships from those of classical antiquity. The city of Ithaca, New York was once a part of the larger Town of Ulysses: both names that originate in Homer's Odyssey.

The nearby town of Lansing, New York was settled in 1791 after the Sullivan Expedition cleared out the Iroquois tribes that had inhabited the prime Cayuga Lake territory. It was named after John Lansing, Jr., the military secretary under General Philip Schuyler. John Lansing, Jr. was a New York legislator, mayor of Albany, and state supreme court judge in the newly independent state.

Nearly thirty-five years later, the brothers Jerry and William Ford promoted cheap land in "Biddle City" to the residents of Lansing, NY. According to them the town "had an area of 65 blocks, contained a church and also a public and academic square." Sixteen men purchased tracts from them to settle in this frontier town. What they found was a waterlogged floodplain at the convergence of the Red Cedar and Grand rivers. The disillusioned settlers quickly named the area Lansing in honor of their previous hometown. (The area they built on is currently inside the Old Town neighborhood.)

Another John from New York founded Ithaca, Michigan. The Gratiot county seat was named in honor of the city in New York. It doesn't seem like any real estate scams were involved with that decision. Nebraska, Georgia, Ohio, and Wisconsin also have Ithacas.

A flickr map of the original Ithaca (center, the largest island you can completely see).