American Football Hall of Famers Not All Born in Texas

We recently looked at our baseball hall of fame map of birthplaces, so it’s only fair that we give equal treatment to football, which holds its annual enshrinement this weekend. This year’s eight inductees bring the pigskin sport’s count of hall of famers to nearly 300. There are 37 states and eight countries represented amongst those 295 golden jacket wearers. Check out the map below to see them all plotted by their place of birth, proving geographically that they’re not all born in Texas.

View Football Hall of Famers by Birthplace in a full screen map

Texas may be the state known for its Friday Night Lights, but it’s been edged out by Pennsylvania as the top birthplace of Hall of Famers. Including this year’s representatives from each state, Pennsylvania has 31, with 30 from the Lone Star State. Rounding out the top five are Ohio (24), California (19), and Illinois (17).

In addition to being home of 24 of the football hall of famers, Ohio is also home to the Football Hall of Fame. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame history, Canton was chosen in part because it was where the National Football League was founded. Coincidentally, two Hall of Famers were born in Canton, though Dan Dierdorf and Alan Page didn’t start playing professionally until after the Hall was opened.

While football is a popular high school sport in the United States, the top birthplaces don’t entirely match up with the top recruitment states. MaxPreps lists Texas as second to Florida for top players being courted by colleges. Pennsylvania is 15th on that list. Still, nine of the top 10 recruitment states have produced eight or more hall of famers. Alabama has produced six hall of fame football players, whereas only a few states have more top recruits.

Most of the 13 states do not have a native son representing in Canton are unsurprising. Alaska and Hawaii are distant. Delaware and Maine have small populations. That Iowa has not produced a hall of famed is baffling. The midwest is known for its love of football, after all. There’s a good chance that will be rectified soon—Kurt Warner was born in Burlington, right across the river from Illinois. Warner barely missed in 2015, his first year of eligibility.

Very likely the size of the football Hall of Fame, which opened in 1963, will soon surpass the membership of the baseball hall of fame, which first inducted players in 1936. Canton’s 295 is edging Cooperstown’s 310. Football adds more then five players per year, while baseball’s average is less than four.

One thing baseball and football’s hall of fames do have in common is Chicago. What is it about Chicago? Sure, it’s America’s third most populous city, but it’s by far the most common birthplace for baseball (9) and football (12) hall of famers, more-so than Los Angeles (five each) and New York (eight each).

How about foreign born players? There are twice as many in the baseball hall (17), but they represent almost the same number of countries (nine for baseball, seven for football). The countries represented between the two sports have very little overlap. Only three countries can boast a member of each hall born within their borders: Germany, Canada, and, of course, the United States.

Baseball Hall of Famers from 40 States, Nine Countries

It’s Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown, New York. Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz will join an exclusive club of just over 300 former baseball players, managers, umpires, and executives elected by baseball writers over the last 79 years. With the help of Baseball Reference, we’ve compiled the birthplaces of every Hall of Famer, from Aaron (Hank) to Yount (Robin). Explore the map below and use BatchGeo’s group selection feature to narrow by election year, type, and role.

View Baseball Hall of Famers by Birthplace in a full screen map

The Hall of Fame originated in 1936. The first inductees were mostly from the northeast. The exceptions were Walter Johnson (1936, Kansas), Ty Cobb (1936, Georgia), and Tris Speaker (1937, Texas). The next 30 years saw a midwestern and southern expansion, with a handful of Californians thrown in here and there.

There are only 17 people elected from outside the US, including only one player from the eastern hemisphere (Bert Blyleven, born in The Netherlands). The first foreign induction overall was in just the third year of the Hall. Henry Chadwick, famous for cultivating America’s interest in baseball, was born in England and voted in posthumously. It would take until 1973 for a foreign-born player to be elected to the hall. Roberto Clemente was born in Puerto Rico in 1934, and elected in special circumstances after he died in an off season airplane crash.

The only other player who entered the hall with a special election is Lou Gehrig. The Iron Horse abruptly retired early in the 1939 season due to weakened muscles from ALS, now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The typical five year waiting period was waived, and Gehrig was elected during December meetings of baseball writers that year.

Gehrig was born in New York City, along with seven other Hall of Famers. That city is second only to Chicago, which produced nine members of the Hall. If you consider the boroughs of Brooklyn (six) and Bronx (Frankie Frisch), the Big Apple is the leader. As a whole, The Empire State is tops with 31 Hall of Famers. Predictably, another populous state, California, comes in second at 24, followed by Illinois and Pennsylvania, both with 22.

Ten states have no natives in the Hall: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, you have some work to do.

One Does Not Simply “Live in Washington”

George Washington was the first president of the United States, but that was not his last official role in government. Just over a year into retirement, the nation’s second president, John Adams, asked Washington to return to his military roots. On July 13, 1798, the former president became Senior Officer of the Army, a role he kept until his death in 1799. This lesser-known role is probably not responsible for the more than 350 cities, towns, and peaks named after Washington, as plotted on the map below.

View Places Named After George Washington in a full screen map

One Does Not Simply Live in WashingtonAs you can see, one does not simply live in Washington, with so many places containing that name. Almost every state has a Washington to call home, though I’m not sure life on one of the 15 Mount Washingtons has the comforts most seek.

Remarkably, a supermajority of states have a Washington County. The 31 represented states are mostly in the eastern half of the country, though Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon represent in the west. Washington County is the most common county name, with four more states than Jefferson County.

Of the original 13 colonies, 11 have one or more place named after Washington. Delaware and South Carolina are the colonies that come up empty. Pennsylvania has several dozen, mostly townships, by far the most of any of the original colonies. Iowa has the most of any state, with 50 places, bolstered by 48 Washington Townships, including one in Washington County, Iowa. Indiana (49) and Ohio (48) are right behind, also mostly townships, often unincorporated or too small to be considered cities.

The state with the most places named after Washington that don’t include townships is Wisconsin, with 11. Still, that state has eight towns named Washington, Wisconsin, which is at best confusing. Undoubtedly the most interesting Washington, Wisconsin, has to be the one on an island at the mouth of Green Bay.

It’s not enough that the state of Washington is named after our first president. The state also is home to four different Mount Washingtons in different counties. The eponymous state also has a city with the president’s full name: George, Washington.

Alaska and Hawaii have no places named after our first president. Perhaps that’s expected since they’re both geographically remote and were not states until 1959. That said, their immediate predecessors in statehood, Arizona and New Mexico (both 1912), each have a Mount Washington.

However, if you’re in a state well over 100 years old, you may need to consult the map above the next time someone says, “let’s go to Washington.”