Dear Oregon, You’re Welcome for the Name: Love, Portland, Maine

Coin tosses. They've been making decisions for ages.

Whether you eat apple pie or apple crisp for dessert. Whether you go to the movies or the mall. Whether, at least in today's times, the New England Patriots will kick off or receive before losing a game.

And whether or not a piece of land in Oregon would be named after one of Maine's most popular cities, or one from Massachusetts.

No, seriously.

Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove

According to Boston Magazine, back in the 1800s, a piece of land on the opposite side of the country was actually owned by two New England natives -- a man named Asa Lovejoy, and a man named Francis Pettygrove.

Asa happened to be from Boston, Massachusetts, and Francis called Portland, Maine, home. And according to Historic Portland, back in 1845, the two fellas had an important decision to make:

What should that piece of land they both own all the way in Oregon be named?

Portland vs Boston

Instead of trying to name the piece of land after themselves by combining their names (can you imagine Franasa, Oregon, Pettyjoy, Oregon, or Lovegrove, Oregon?), they decided to pay tribute to their home city names and go head-to-head.

And like any other important decision that needs to be made (like in rock/paper/scissors), it needed to be left up to fate and best two-out-of-three.

All with a toss of a coin.

And the rest is history. Obviously, the coin fell in favor of Francis two times, which is why that piece of land is now known as Portland, Oregon.

And with the popularity of and the desired destination that Portland, Oregon, has become over the years, it's nice to know they're carrying on the legacy of the OG Portland well.