Colorado Named 4th Most Patriotic State, Here’s Why

The Centennial State is home to a number of communities with "patriotic" names. While these names don't necessarily come from patriotic origins, they ultimately have a nice ring to them. Here's a short list of Colorado towns with patriotic "sounding" names.

Colorado was recently ranked the fourth most patriotic state in the US, these are the factors that got us there.

Colorado showed up #16 for "military rank engagement." This is the percentage of enlisted residents, number of veterans, number of active duty and percentage of people in military reserves. Helping Colorado move to the #4 position was the #6 position in "civic engagement." Civil engagement is the number of people who voted, and volunteer rate and hours.

Here are the most "patriotic" towns by their name alone.

Have you ever visited Flagler, Colorado? Was it named in honor of the American flag? Not hardly. The unremarkable reality is the town was named in honor of Henry Flagler, a railroad builder and oil man, at the request of his daughter. Why? Well, simply put, she liked the area.

What about Federal Heights, Colorado? It was named in honor of a street, namely Federal Boulevard.

Okay, so none of these exactly set the world on fire. How about Centennial? Was it named after the book?

What about Williamsburg, Colorado? Was it named in honor of William Ellery, William Floyd, William Hooper, William Paca, or William Whipple, all of whom signed the Declaration of Independence? Nope. The town was named after John Silas Williams, the man responsible for opening a mine for Colorado Fuel & Iron Steel Corp of Pueblo back in the 1880s.

Okay, so none of these names are particularly patriotic in origin, but they all sound cool. Happy Independence Day!