A tale of two Bostons

Portland, Oregon was named in 1845 by Asa Lovejoy, of Boston, MA and Francis Pettygrove of Portland, ME. They both wanted to name the new settlement after their respective hometowns, and after a series of three coin tosses, Pettygrove won. What if Lovejoy won the coin toss? What if it was named Boston, Oregon? What's in a name? What would be the likelihood of two similiarly populated big American cities having the same name? Would the US Geological survey or Postal Service force Portland, OR to change it's name to avoid confusion? Would we have a New Portland or Lovejoy, Oregon? What would be the implications of having two Bostons, kind of mirror images of each other, one on the east coast and one on the west?
 
I'm not sure anything would really change (other than my birth certificate :p) though if Boston had one out I think it'd have been named New Boston, rather than just Boston, since Boston was larger and more well known.
 
Top