Boston, Oregon

Well, almost. While channel surfing between innings of tonight's Red Sox game featuring the nationally celebrated return of Jon Lester after his successful battle with cancer, I caught a neat factoid.

The city of Portland, Oregon was named on a 2-to-3 coin toss. The contending name? Boston, Oregon.

From TravelPortland.com, "the official tourism and meeting website for Portland, Oregon,"

It all began in 1843 when Tennessee drifter William Overton and Massachusetts lawyer Asa Lovejoy beached their canoe on the banks of the Willamette River .... Overton [sold] his half of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove.... Lovejoy was determined to name the site after his hometown of Boston, while Pettygrove was equally adamant about his native Portland, Maine. They decided to flip a coin, now known as the "Portland Penny," to settle the argument. Pettygrove won on two tosses out of three.