Editor’s note: This is part of a weekly series marking the 120th anniversary of Niles native William McKinley’s U.S. presidency.

During President William McKinley’s tenure, we saw the acquisition of Puerto Rico as a territory through the Spanish-American War. The name Puerto Rico was the name of the island before Spain ceded it to the United States. Yet, during April 1900, the island’s name was officially changed to Porto Rico. The Los Angeles Times reported on April 27, 1900, about the event:

“In sending to the Senate the name of Assistant Secretary Allen to be Governor of Porto Rico, President McKinley was the first to officially recognize the spelling of the name of that island as authorized by Congress. The act creating the civil government contains a clause stating that the island shall be known as ‘Porto Rico’ and this spelling was adopted after considerable discussion. Some time ago, the Board of Geographic Names, a commission of the government whose duty is to decide as to the proper spelling and pronunciation of geographical names within the jurisdiction of the United States, decided that the name of our new possession should be spelled “Puerto Rico.” When this decision was announced an official order was issued making that the official spelling of the name and it was so spelled in all official documents and publications.

“However, when the question of providing a civil government for the island came up in the Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico, the first question taken up was the spelling of its name. After considerable discussion, it was decided by a vote of 9 to 1 that the official spelling should be “Porto Rico.”

“There were three reasons that influenced the majority to come to this conclusion, the first being that this was the way the name was spelled in the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain signed in Paris; second, it was the American way of spelling when the island was a Spanish possession and now that it had become a possession of the United States it was not proper to drop the American orthography and adopt the Spanish; and thirdly on account of consistency. For if the Spanish spelling was adopted, the citizens could not be called “Puerto Ricans” but the entire Spanish spelling would have to be called “Puerto Riquenos.”

This would rest the issue until 1932 when Puerto Rican politician Felix Cordova Davila retired from office. Congress officially approved his measure reverting the name back to the original “Puerto Rico.”

Farris is director of the National McKinley Birthplace Museum in Niles.