Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington

The Empire State is a

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

for the U.S. state of New York, adopted in the 1800s. It has been incorporated into the names of several state buildings and events. The source of the nickname is unknown and has puzzled many historians; as American writer Paul Eldridge put it, "Who was the merry wag who crowned the State ... ? New York would certainly raise a monument to his memory, but he made his grandiose gesture and vanished forever."

History

The source of the term "Empire State" has been attributed to the state's wealth and resources. The 1940 ''Guide to the Empire State'' states that "it would gratify the people of New York if they could discover who first dared that spacious adjective." Historian Milton M. Klein proposed that the name may have accompanied the success of the Black Ball Line in 1818 "because of the signal advantage the regularity of shipping gave to New York's merchants over those in other coastal cities." He claims that, by 1820, it was clear that "Empire State" was in wide use, though he is doubtful that a clear origin of the term will ever be determined.

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

in a 1785 letter to James Duane, New York City Mayor, called New York "the Seat of the Empire." Washington is said to have used the phrase "Pathway to Empire" when referring to the state in conversation with George Clinton, the New York Governor in the 1790s. It is claimed in volume 6 of Alexander Flick's "History of the State of New York" that the title was used as early as 1819, coinciding with New York surpassing

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in population and was "universally acknowledged and accepted" by 1825. Buildings and institutions inspired by the "Empire State" sobriquet include: * The

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

, opened in 1931. * The Empire State Trail, completed in 2020. * The

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

dubbed the span between the Trylon and N.Y. State Exhibit as The Empire State Bridge. * The main offices of

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

are located at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, the state capital. *

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

was known as the "Empire State of the South" during the antebellum period before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. During this time, Georgia had the second-largest land area of any state east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, and it was rapidly industrializing. *

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

is nicknamed the "Inland Empire State". * The Empire State Express of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

. * The Empire Service, a rail line from New York City to

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

via Albany. * SUNY Empire State College was established in 1971 in Saratoga Springs. * The Empire State Games were established in 1978 as an Olympic-style competition for amateur athletes from New York. * "Empire State" was on New York license plates from 1951 through 1963 and from 2001 through 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire State, origin of the name Nicknames New York (state) culture Empire State

History

See also

References