![\"Photo#27-Newark\/New](\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/4701\/39912455822_db0e968954_o.jpg\")
<\/a>I noticed Newark, Ohio because Newark, New Jersey (map<\/a>) was still fresh on my mind after appearing in the recent Small Change, Big Difference<\/a> article. Honestly I didn’t know all that much about the city in New Jersey, either. Nearby New York City completely overshadowed it, and it had a lousy airport too (map<\/a>). Did I need to know anything else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think all of us who have traveled in the northeast corridor of the United States have at least one Newark Airport horror story, and probably many more. It sat perennially at or near the bottom<\/a> for on-time performance. Twelve Mile Circle readers from Newark should feel free to defend the honor of their fair city in the comments. I’m sure there must be wonderful attributes that could rebut my negative travel experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The name had biblical roots. A group of Puritans lost power when the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven united. So they migrated to New Jersey and founded Newark in 1666. However it wasn’t Newark at the very beginning, it was New Ark<\/a>. It referenced the “New Ark of the Covenant.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible described the Ark of the Covenant as holding the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments as well as perhaps other sacred objects depending on the citation referenced. By proclaiming a New Ark, these offshoot Puritans put their stake in the ground, a foundation based upon their specific biblical interpretations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alternately, even the City of Newark, Delaware<\/a> didn’t know much about its origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Little is known of Newark’s initial settlements. It appears our community’s early growth, like most villages of Colonial America, owed much to natural features and location. In Newark’s case, historians tell us that in the early 1700s a small English, Scots-Irish and Welsh hamlet grew along two old Indian trails and the fall line where the Christina and White Clay Creeks turn sharply eastward toward the Delaware River. In time, the area began to serve travelers on route from the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia and Maryland and colonial Philadelphia.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Many have speculated on the origin of the name as it appeared in Delaware. Residents pronounce it New-Ark there and might lead a reader to think it also had a connection to the New Ark of the Covenant. However, the New Jersey pronunciation is Newerk so that didn’t necessarily mean anything at all. Delaware Online<\/span> [link no longer works<\/em>] attempted to find an explanation and came up short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The name: Historical evidence suggests that Newark was nameless prior to 1758. It was most likely named for a town in England, such as “Newark-on-Trent.” It also may be related to the New Wark or Newark Quaker meeting held north of Wilmington, according to a 1960 ‘Know Your Newark’ government survey published by The League of Women Voters of Newark. It is also suggested that the three Bond sisters from Cecil County\u2019s ‘Nottingham Lotts’ came up with the name for the city.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Newark, Delaware was notable for a couple of things. First, and most importantly, it had the good fortune of its location within the Twelve Mile Circle<\/a>, the namesake of this website. Second, it was the home of the University of Delaware (map<\/a>) whose Fightin’ Blue Hen<\/a> offered a rare example of a team mascot named for the female of an animal species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Various references mentioned Newark-on-Trent as a possible inspiration for New Jersey or Delaware. Newark-on-Trent was an ancient town, perhaps extending back<\/a> to the Roman era. The name came from nearby Newark Castle (map<\/a>), constructed in the Twelfth Century. The original castle spelling was Niwerc<\/a> as noted in its royal charter granted by King Henry I in 1135.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I couldn’t trace the etymology of Niwerc. When I typed “etymology Niwerc” into Google it asked, “Did you mean: etymology Twerk?” No, I definitely did not mean that. The etymology of Twerk, by the way, was “probably an alteration of work”. However, none of that really mattered. Neither the Newark in New Jersey nor the one in Delaware descended from Newark-on-Trent directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there was also a Newark Castle in Port Glasgow, Scotland (map<\/a>). That one provided the name<\/a> for Newark, California. It’s not really pertinent although I thought I should reference it anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I mentioned finding Newark, Ohio at the beginning of this article and now I can finally return to that place. This one was actually the second-largest Newark with nearly 50,000 residents, coming behind only the one in New Jersey. According to the History of Licking County, Ohio<\/a> (1881),<\/p>\n\n\n\n “In 1802 however immigrants came in greater numbers and from this time forward there was a steady stream of immigration. The most important arrival in this year was that General William C. Schenck who laid out the town of Newark calling it after his native place Newark, New Jersey.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I liked Newark, Ohio because of the giant basket (map<\/a>) featured in 12MC’s Weird Ohio Explorations<\/a> in 2009. It served as the headquarters for the Longaberger Basket<\/a> company, an office building constructed of stucco over steel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNewark, Delaware<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"University](\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5170\/5314656579_de1c669da9_b.jpg\")
<\/a>More Speculation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNewark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Newark](\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5132\/5500503232_6ce938e81e_b.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\n\n\nNewark, Ohio<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Longaberger](\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/2950\/15379597646_b69d47b736_b.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\n\n\nNewark, Indiana<\/h2>\n\n\n\n