Places

Many people don't realize as late the 1950s, there was a Nigger Hill outside of Prattsville, NY - as seen on this 1945 Prattsville Topographic Map. Department of Interior Secretary, Stewart Udall started a campaign in 1962 to rename all places named Nigger Hill to Negro Hill, the change took place in 1963. However, New York State must have petitioned to change the name somewhat earlier, as this 1960 reprint of the 1945 Prattsville Topographic map already has the change.

There are five Negro Hills across New York, three of them (those in Clinton, Wayne, Delaware) appear on old federal topographic maps as Nigger or Niger Hill according to GNIS.

President Obama urged GNIS to change the naming Negro-named place to less offensive names. However, renaming a landmark involves a lengthy local process, including historical research to justify the change. It was relatively easy to swap out Nigger Hill for Negro Hill, but if you are going to have unique local names, then they would have justify each new name.