Wichita Falls Has Three Nicknames and I Think One is a Lie
Wichita Falls has many names, but according to Wikipedia we have three nicknames. I literally cannot find one instance of someone referring to us as the third.
The City That Faith Built
I didn't really know too much about this one, but I have heard it before. It is apparently from all the way back in the 1920's. It is a slogan used to try and get people to come move to Wichita Falls. "Wichita Falls is the city Where Today’s Dream Is Tomorrow’s Achievement!” It is the City That Faith Built. It is building big because it is people with big men who make the best of big opportunities. All the Southwest is proud of Wichita Falls." That was what was published in the Dallas Morning News in 1921.
Turns out, the name stuck for quite awhile. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stopped in Wichita Falls on July 11, 1938. On that day, he gave a speech and said, "Governor Allred, my friends of Wichita Falls, I am glad to come here. My old friend, Congressman McFarlane, has told me much about the city that “faith built” and that is the finest name that could be given any city of the nation."
Dang, the finest name for any city in the nation? Doesn't get much bigger than that.
Fallstown
This is the one I believe everyone is familiar with. Fallstown has even been used by one of our local sports teams a few years ago. I don't really use this one myself, but I have definitely heard a lot of people use this one from time to time. However, our final entry on Wikipedia is a lie. No person in the history of our city has ever called us this.
Fallsvegas?
I swear I am not making this up. According to Wikipedia, we have three nicknames for our city and one of them is Fallsvegas. Who has EVER said on my way to Fallsvegas? Am I unaware of some underground casinos buried deep below downtown? I cannot find anything that backs up this nickname. Literally all I find is flights or buses to Vegas from Wichita Falls.
Please, if you know the origin of this nickname, I need to know.