![]() “Christopher Columbus’ three ships were not actually clippers ships,” Santry said. Of course, Christopher Columbus never knew this particular brand of ship, as they were separated by several hundred years of history. And she must use that sail, day and night, fair weather and foul.” ![]() She must be tall-sparred and carry the utmost spread of canvas. She must be sharp-lined, built for speed. In defining clipper ships, 20th-century Australian author and sailor Alan Villiers wrote, “To sailors, three things made a ship a clipper. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, “The emphasis on speed came partly from the desire to bring the first tea of the season back from China, partly from the competition with the overland route across North America to the California goldfields.” They were known for their speed and sleek appearance. Indeed, clipper ships (as in, ships that move along at a good clip) saw their heyday in the mid-19th century. The particular qualities of this kind of ship also played into the selection of the name. “Clippers ships were slick and extremely fast sail ships,” Santry said. “They liked the alliteration and the nautical theme for Columbus’ team,” Santry said. There were two reasons the committee picked the name. A blue ribbon committee narrowed it down to three names and then picked the name Clippers.” Hundreds of people sent their ideas into the newspaper. “They had a contest to name the new team. “They refurbished the old ballpark, making it into the nicest minor league stadium in the country,” said Joe Santry, historian, media director, and director of communications for the Columbus Clippers. In 1976, Ohio’s Franklin County purchased Cooper Stadium, which was built in 1929, and an as-of-yet unnamed minor league baseball team. One thing we can all agree on is that Columbus loved fast, sea-faring boats.Įxactly 484 years after Columbus sailed the ocean blue (those precise numbers are just so satisfying), the connection between that Ohio city’s namesake and fast boats led to the birth of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, then a brand-new affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. History remembers Christopher Columbus either as a brave explorer who opened up the New World to trading and cultural exchange, ushering in a new era of global economy, or a money-grubbing villain who wantonly introduced infectious disease and enslaved and slaughtered indigenous populations for his own personal gain. (Never mind that Columbus never set foot on mainland North America. And because of that, there are lots of cities named Columbus, including those in Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Texas, Wisconsin, Montana, and, of course, Ohio-not to mention places with Columbia in their name, including cities, counties, and rivers, as well as a Canadian province and a certain “District of” in the United States. Now 1492, there’s a number we can rhyme some things with. ![]() (“In circa year 1,000, Leif Erikson sailed the ocean blue…”) We never talk about Leif Erikson because we don’t know exactly what date he first landed on coastal North America, so we can’t write catchy poems about him. ![]() The city of Columbus, Ohio, is named in honor of the first European to set foot in North America, Norwegian explorer Leif Erikson. ![]()
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