From Fox News · Landon Mion · · 1m 30s
A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants Lake Erie renamed
One state rep's pitch for "Lake Pennsylvania" is the latest entry in a growing map-rewriting contest.
In brief
One state rep's pitch for "Lake Pennsylvania" is the latest entry in a growing map-rewriting contest. Presidential renaming orders only bind the federal government, but once Apple and Google Maps follow along, the new name reaches most Americans anyway. Originally reported by Fox News.
Rename Lake Erie
Pennsylvania state Rep. David Maloney, a Republican, is preparing a resolution asking Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Congress to rename Lake Erie to "Lake Pennsylvania."
“Pennsylvania has one. Let's call it Lake Pennsylvania!”
Everyone else has more
Maloney's case is arithmetic. Ohio has plenty of shoreline, New York already claims two Great Lakes, Canada has four others, and Erie is the only one Pennsylvania touches.
“This is Pennsylvania's only Great Lake. Its modern economy and identity are increasingly tied to the boaters, anglers, families and tourists who come to enjoy it.”
The smallest Great Lake
Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and the smallest by volume, per the EPA. Its watershed holds about 12 million people, 10.5 million of them in the U.S.
Lake Ontario went first
Last month Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America." Canada rejected it outright, with Prime Minister Mark Carney calling the old name the only real one.
“Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario, then, now and always.”
Maps did the rest
The order binds only the U.S. federal government, not Canada, other countries or the states. But Apple Maps and Google Maps both flipped the label for American users anyway.
A longer rename list
Trump turned the Gulf of Mexico into the "Gulf of America" on his first day back in January 2025. He has since floated renaming New Mexico and both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The key point
Presidential renaming orders only bind the federal government, but once Apple and Google Maps follow along, the new name reaches most Americans anyway.
