You may think that Tuesday’s US Presidential Election does not directly affect the people of Liverpool.
However, there are thousands of Liverpudlians with a stake in whether Democrat Barack Obama is re-elected or Republican Mitt Romney becomes the 45th President of the United States.
Our city is just one of many places called Liverpool worldwide and no fewer than five of them are located in America.
Voters will be going to polling stations to decide the fate of the most powerful man on the planet in Liverpool, New York; Texas; Pennsylvania; Ohio and Illinois.
JMU Journalism has reached out across the Atlantic to seek results and reaction from the various Liverpools in the US, and later this week we will be providing news about how its citizens voted in the race for the White House.
Here is our guide to each location as Americans prepare to elect their next President:
Liverpool, New York
Population: 2,347 (2010 census)
Established: 1830
Mayor: Gary White
2008 state result: New York – Obama/Biden (Democratic Party)
Fact: Captain Israel Adams of Liverpool was the scourge of the British army during the territorial war of 1812 with the fledgling United States. A £100 reward was offered by the British for his capture, but he lived to tell the tale.
Background: It is said that the village on Onondaga Lake was named after Liverpool because merchants wanted to capitalise on the name of another famous salt-producing region. Although Liverpool occupies just one square mile, more than 35,000 people travel through the village every day as it is a suburb of Syracuse, more than 250 miles north west of New York City and close to the Canadian border.
Liverpool, Texas
Population: 482 (2010 census)
Established: 1837
Mayor: Bill Strickland
2008 state result: Texas – McCain/Palin (Republican Party)
Fact: In October 2009, Liverpool Mayor Mike Peters was found dead on the railroad tracks that run through Liverpool. Officials believe that he committed suicide.
Background: Liverpool stands 14 miles from Angleton on the Missouri Pacific line in Brazoria County, and 40 miles south of Houston, Texas. It began as a trading post around 1827 and was settled in 1834. The town was officially founded in 1837 as a shipping point for wool and hides. It was named after the famous English port by a man known as Commodore Nelson.
Liverpool, Pennsylvania
Population: 955 (2010 census)
Established: 1808
Mayor: John Mark
2008 state result: Pennsylvania – Obama/Biden (Democratic Party)
Fact: Legend has it that a village in the Liverpool area and another near Mexico, Pennsylvania fought sporadic Native American tribal wars, with stores raided and women being captured. The losers would have to pay homage to the winners by sharing their bass fishing catch.
Background: Liverpool is bordered on the east by the Susquehenna River, the north by the Tuscarora Mountain, and the south by the Blue Mountain. Liverpool is 30 miles to the north of Harrisburg while a further two-drive west along Interstate 76 would take you to Philadelphia. The plot on which Liverpool was originally laid out in 1808 extended from Strawberry Street… 62 years before the earliest reference to the infinitely more famous Strawberry Field[s] of Woolton.
East Liverpool, Ohio
Population: 11,195 (2010 census)
Established: 1816
Mayor: James P. Swoger
2008 state result: Ohio – Obama/Biden (Democratic Party)
Fact: East Liverpool is not to be confused with another Liverpool Township in the same state which is home to Valley City, ‘The Frog Jump Capital of Ohio’. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Frog Jump Festival in 1962.
Background: Originally known as Fawcettstown, in 1816 the name was changed to Liverpool. It was renamed again as East Liverpool in 1834 when a Liverpool in western Ohio (now Valley City) protested against the use of its name. East Liverpool lies on the Ohio River, 40 miles from its nearest major city, Pittsburgh, which is across the state line in Pennsylvania. Renowned for its pottery, the city is by far the largest of all the Liverpools in the United States and Ohio is seen as one of the key swing-state battlegrounds in the US Presidential Election.
Liverpool, Illinois
Population: 129 (2010 census)
Established: 1826
Mayor: Becky Humphrey
2008 state result: Illinios – Obama/Biden (Democratic Party)
Fact: Notorious gangster Al Capone is reported to have spent weekends fishing and hunting in Liverpool, Illinois while taking a break from being a mobster in Chicago.
Background: Standing on the banks of the Illinois River, the village of Liverpool is roughly 200 miles south west of Chicago and 150 miles north of S Louis, Missouri. Fishing was the dominant industry until shortly after 1915 when backwater lakes were drained to create farmland and flood protection barriers. Millions of fish died as a consequence.
