There are destinations that make you fall in love, surprise you or disappoint you. And there are destinations that directly inspire you when you decide to establish a distant city on the other side of the planet, as happened almost two centuries ago to Andrew Mack, an influential businessman and politician from Connecticut. In the 19th century, Mack crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in A Coruña, in northwestern Spain, with the intention of buying sheep. What he saw there must have fascinated him so much that when he participated in the founding of a city in Michigan years later, he suggested naming it Corunna, a translation of “A Coruña” that can still be seen on some tourist sites today.

Now, in a remote district called Shiawassee, almost 6,000 kilometers from Galician territory, there is a “made in the USA” A Coruña, and the municipal police march through the streets with a shield depicting the Tower of Hercules.

An American Coruña? Nothing more, nothing less. Officially Corunna, it is located in eastern Shiawassee County, Michigan, United States. The town is small, with a population of only 3,500, but that doesn’t stop him from acting as county commissioner. Owosso, the largest town in Whiawassee and known for being home to the fort that set the stage for novelist James Oliver Curwood’s books, is just a few minutes’ drive away. Corunna’s dedicated website, Shiawasee History, highlights its architecture above all else.

Greetings to Galicia. It is no coincidence that the name has Galician resonances. The Shiawassee Chamber of Commerce explains that the idea of ​​naming the new settlement Corunna came from Andrew Mack, a businessman from Connecticut who had a career as a politician and wanted to give a nod to a town on the other side of the Atlantic in Galicia, which I visited for professional reasons some time ago.

“He named the city after the Spanish city of A Coruña after traveling there to purchase sheep,” the association says. The proposal seemed to find favor among the Shiawassee County Seat Company group of businessmen who were tasked with promoting the municipality in its early stages in the 1840s, and it continues to this day.

Beyond the name. As the A Coruña Tourism Office was responsible for reminding us years ago, this name is not the only connection between the two towns. The two share something else: their heraldry. While they are not identical, the coat of arms of the Galician municipality and that of Michigan bear such clear similarities that in 2019, Turismo de A Coruña reported that it was “inspired” by its alter ego’s emblem.

The similarities are clear: in the centre of the shield there is a kind of lighthouse, reminiscent of the famous Tower of Hercules that must have fascinated Mack when he visited Galicia. And just like in the shield of A Coruña, in the shield of Corunna you can see what look like shells symmetrically distributed on both sides of the tower.

“A beautiful town”The Shiawassee Chamber of Commerce describes Corunna as a “beautiful town,” founded in the 1840s near the Shiawassee River, filled with historic homes from the early 20th century and an elegant courthouse that is especially interesting to history buffs, as well as a city park with historic buildings moved here from other locations for their full preservation.

“Economically, Corunna has a wide variety of small businesses and is connected to the commerce of the Owosso metropolitan area and other surrounding cities,” the regional body comments, before recalling that the town’s July 4th celebrations are among the best in the country.

Galicia, USA… What about Canada? It may be remarkable that there is a Coruña in Michigan, more than 3,700 miles from the northern coast of Galicia. What is even more interesting is that neither Spain nor the United States, neither of them nor the other, are the only “Coruñas” that exist. In Canada, there is another Coruña, with a population of 6,300, in Lambton County, Ontario.

The community is part of the municipality of St. Clair and was vying to become the nation’s capital 200 years ago last year, according to the CBC. Geography played against them: too close to the United States, too far from Quebec.

Another wink at history. Its name is no coincidence. Local newspaper Sarnia Magazine It is claimed that the name was given by Lord Beresford, who served under Jon Moore in A Coruña, Galicia, during the Napoleonic Wars in 1809. Another version suggests that Mack also contributed to the development of A Coruña, Canada.

Whether or not this is the case, if Corunna, both in Michigan and Ontario, makes one thing clear, it is that the city in northwestern Galicia left its mark on foreigners who visited it centuries ago. And the word has achieved astonishing success in international toponymy. In 2008 Voice of Galicia revealed that there are about a dozen places around the world that use the name “Coruña.”

Images | US Government, daBinsi (Flickr) and Wystan (Flickr)

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