A city in the USA has more in common with the place we call home than just its name – but it has even stronger links to another part of the UK.
Liverpool is a city situated on the banks of a famous river, it is famous around the world for its industry and is not too far away from Chester. Except, that river is the Ohio River, the industry is pottery and the nearby Chester is in West Virginia. This is not Liverpool in Merseyside, but East Liverpool in Ohio.
The city at the foot of Appalachian mountains is home to 9,000 residents. It was founded in 1798 by an Irishman called Thomas Fawcett and was originally called St. Clair and then Fawcettstown. By 1834 the town was renamed East Liverpool.
READ MORE: Dramatic moment car crashes into Boots as shoppers dive out the way
READ MORE:
During the 19th century the city's rising pottery and ceramics industry led to it adopting the title of the "pottery capital of the USA". And attracted workers from the UK's own pottery hub, Stoke-on-Trent, due to the opportunity to receive higher wages. Many residents can still trace their heritage back to the Staffordshire city.
In a post in the Historical East Liverpool Ohio Facebook group, residents told the ECHO about their family connections to Stoke. Linda Kittridge Michling said: "My grandfather came from Stoke-on-Trent as a boy. His father was a pottery worker." Victoria Smith said: "My grandmother came over from Stoke-on-Trent to Ellis Island and I still have relatives in Stoke."
Judy Ibbs Gill said: "My great grandmother came from Stoke-on-Trent, England. She had a bar over there and when she came over she opened a bar in East Liverpool too!"
Julie Galeoti was born in Liverpool, New York and moved to East Liverpool in 1987. She said: "I moved for love my ex husband was from East Liverpool so I moved to be with him and never left."
The nurse said: "Since the steel mills and pottery industry shut down we've seen the population decrease and the poverty rate has risen."
Despite East Liverpool's problems, Julie still loves her adopted home. The 55-year-old said: "We're right next to three states (West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio) in the Appalachian region so it's got beautiful surroundings and we're right by the river. I work in Pittsburgh and I always tell people I travel through three states every day."
Julie has called East Liverpool home for 35 years, but as she reaches retirement age she's looking to move. She said: "I've always wanted to travel and as a nurse I'm looking to get a work visa and hopefully move to the UK. I think it would be a good base to go travel with my family."
Although she has never visited the original Liverpool before, Julie is considering the city as a potential place to move to if she does decide to emigrate to the UK. This would keep up her tradition of always living in a placed called Liverpool.
Jim Purton is a retired police officer who grew up in East Liverpool. He said: "I left East Liverpool when I was 19 in 1966 to join the Air Force. I wanted to go to Vietnam but instead they sent me to North Dakota."
The retiree never returned to live in East Liverpool and hasn't visited his old hometown since 2004. The 76-year-old said: "My sisters and brother still live there. It was a happy town to grow up in, I had lots of friends and we use to play baseball together. This was in the 50s and the economy was booming, everyone was working and there was no strife."
Jim said: "One of my favourite memories of East Liverpool is how happy and friendly everyone was, we had loads of nice neighbours who we were constantly with and everyone looked out for each other." Jim may have revealed another similarity between both cities here as Liverpool is renowned in the UK for friendliness of its locals. In 2021, the city was voted the second most friendly city in the UK.
The most striking similarity between both Liverpools is that both cities, despite their differences in geography and in population, are full of pride.
Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here