Editing Utica, New York (section)

==Etymology==
The first [[Utica, Tunisia|Utica]] was a former city in modern-day [[Tunisia]]. Many central New York locations have the names of ancient cities or people ([[Rome, New York|Rome]], [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]], [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]], [[Troy, New York|Troy]], [[Homer, New York|Homer]], [[Cicero, New York|Cicero]], [[Ovid (village), New York|Ovid]], and a number of others).
 
The reuse of the name of ancient Utica for a modern village, then city, owes a great deal to classically trained surveyor [[Robert Harpur]] (1731–1825), for many years a professor in [[King's College, New York|King's College]] (today [[Columbia University]]). It was he who gave out the central New York State Classical names, and he stated that he named the village of Utica.<ref name=Czarnota>{{Cite book |title=Native American & Pioneer Sites of Upstate New York: Westward Trails from Albany to Buffalo |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-1-6258-4776-8 |first=Lorna |last=Czarnota |chapter=Utica: Beer and Insanity |year=2014 |pages=77–81}}</ref> However, another theory involves a 1798 meeting at [[Bagg's Hotel|Bagg's Tavern]] (a resting place for travelers passing through the village) where the name was picked from a hat holding 13 suggestions. How Utica came to be among them, if not due ultimately to Harpur, is unknown.<ref name=Czarnota/>{{Sfn|Thomas|2003|p=17}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of New York State |author=Eisenstadt, Peter R. |page=1208 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780815608080 |title=Place names}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Classical Place Names in New York State |last=Farrell |first=William R. |year=2002 |publisher=Pine Grove Press |isbn=9781890691080}}</ref>