U.S. Cities by Letter - S

The second most populous city in Texas was founded in 1691 as a Spanish mission honoring St. Anthony of Padua.

The second most populous city in California, a border town, was named in 1602 to honor St. Didacus of Alcalá, who was also known by another name.

California’s third most populous city was named for St. Joseph of Guadalupe. Did Dionne Warwick ever find her way there in 1968?

Named for a presidio and a mission dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, the fourth most populous city in California is where Tony Bennet (d. 2023) left his heart, according to his signature song.

The most populous city in Washington was the birthplace of Bill Gates and Amazon whose economy was boosted by tech companies beginning in the 1980s.

The capital and sixth most populous city in California. The home of the UC Davis School of Medicine, its name means “sacrament” in Spanish.

Founded in 1849 by Carlos Maria Weber, the 11th largest city in California was the first community in California to have a name not of Spanish or Native American origin. To discover its name, combine the following.

This California city, named for St. Anne, was at the center of Orange County's economic boom in the 1950s with its agricultural and defense industries.

The capital and second most populous city in Minnesota became a transportation hub in the 19th century due in part to its location near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers.

Associated with blues, jazz, and ragtime, the second largest city in Missouri is the site of the Gateway Arch.

The fifth most populous city in Florida was named for a city in Russia.

This Arizona city was accidentally named for retired U.S. Army chaplain Winfield Scott.

This Washington city is the birthplace of Father’s Day, the site of an annual “hoopfest” basketball tournament, and hosted the first environmentally themed worlds fair in 1974.

The 17th largest city in California was named after the Santa Clara River, but since California already had a settlement called Santa Clara, they gave it a name that means “little St. Clare.” (It is now a bigger city than the original.)

The name of California’s 18th largest city honors St. Bernardino of Siena, but its first non-indigenous settlement boom was the result of Mormon colonists.

The capital and most populous city of Utah has developed a strong tourist industry based on religious tourism and skiing and other outdoor recreation.

Railroads turned the most populous city of South Dakota into a boom town in the 1880s, but the boom was ended in the 1890s by a national economic depression and a plague of grasshoppers.

Louisiana’s third most populous city became a center of steamboat commerce in the early 19th century.

The third largest city in Oregon shares its name with a Massachusetts city where infamous “witch trials” took place.

The 25th most populous city in California was founded in 1833 by Doña María Ygnacia López de Carrillo and named in honor of St. Rose of Lima.

The “Queen City of the Ozarks” is the third largest city in Missouri, and shares its name with a city in Massachusetts.

Writer John Steinbeck called this California city his home, and set many of his stories in the surrounding area. Its name can be translated from Spanish as “salt works.”

When she founded this Arizona city in 1938, Flora Mae Statler stated that she "would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much." Yet here it is … an answer in a JetPunk quiz!

Founded in 1636, the third largest city in Massachusetts once had an armory that produced a rifle (named after the city) whose Model 1903 was used in both world wars.

Located in the Silicon Valley, this California city was the birthplace of the video game industry. It is one of the few U.S. cities to have a single unified Department of Public Safety, where all personnel are trained as firefighters, police officers, and EMTs, so that they can respond to an emergency in any of the three roles. If you need more help, you can discover the city’s name by combining the following.

The oldest and fifth most populous city in Georgia was the primary objective of Sherman’s March to the Sea during the Civil War.

Some of the early citizens wanted to name their town “Corinth,” but their application for a post office was denied because Saratoga County, New York already had a town by that name. So, they named it after another ancient Greek city, instead … one that was a colony on what is today called Sicily.

The second most populous city in Connecticut, lying on Long Island Sound, is home to eight Fortune 500 companies.

The fourth largest city in Michigan has two words in its name. The first is a word that refers to silver with a purity of 92 1/2%. The second word is the plural form of a word meaning “a high place or area.”

This California city was named after a mission founded by Padre Junípero Serra in 1777, honoring St. Clare of Assisi.

Lying in a valley of the same name, this California city is the site of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The capital and seventh most populous city of Illinois.

Georgia’s eighth most populous city was incorporated in 2017, combining more than 10 unincorporated communities. Its name begins with a cardinal direction and ends with the name of its county —- a county whose district attorney Willis is known for prosecuting racketeering cases.

First named Grangerville, and then Central City, this California city was finally named after a property honoring St. Mary, owned by Juan Pacifico Ontiveros.

The population of this Texas city — whose name honors the massive sugar plantation that once lay on the same site — increased more than 158% between 1990 and 2000.

The fifth most populous city in Nevada was named after a former governor whose surname was the plural form of a word that means “a small fiery particle thrown off from a fire.”

An elementary school fire in 1959 triggered an attempt to have Georgia’s seventh most populous city annexed by Atlanta (which had better firefighting capabilities), but that effort failed. The city’s name has two words. The first one means “covered in or consisting mostly of sand”; the second is the third person present form of a verb that means “move or jump suddenly or rapidly upward or forward.”

The eighth largest city in Washington is named for the river valley in which it is located. The first word in its name is the name of another Washington city.

The fourth largest city in Indiana lies just south of the Michigan border and was the site of the first sit-in strike in U.S. history when workers at the Bendix Corporation halted work in 1936.

Although it wasn’t named for him, the fifth largest city in Utah shares its name with the patron saint of England.

This California city was named for St. Matthew, and stands on the site of a Native American village called Los Laureles (the willows) by the Spanish.