What if cemetery categories in a place use County AND town?

Question

It is my understanding that county is used only if there is no nearby town.

Category: Washington County, Indiana, Cemeteries lists several with both.

Answer 1

County is used in a name also if there is more than one place with the same name in the state. For instance, there is more than one place named Salem in Indiana, so the cem was named with the county in the cat name.

Answer 2

It is my understanding that county is used only if there is no nearby town.

Not exactly. County is used when the cemetery lies outside of an incorporated area. So any cemetery in Washington County that lies within the following communities, should be named to the County level:

• Bartle
• Beck's Mill
• Blue River
• Brimstone Corners
• Bunker Hill
• Canton
• Claysville
• Daisy Hill
• Fairview
• Farabee
• Fayetteville
• Fredericksburg
• Georgetown
• Gooseport
• Haleysbury
• Harristown
• Highland
• Hitchcock
• Kossuth
• Martinsburg
• McKinley
• Millport
• Mount Carmel
• New Liberty
• New Philadelphia
• New Salem
• Old Pekin
• Organ Springs
• Plattsburg
• Prowsville
• Pumpkin Center
• Rosebud
• Rush Creek Valley
• Shorts Corner
• Smedley
• South Boston

 Any cemeteries that lie in the following cities, towns, or townships, should be named to their location (not the county):

• Brown (Township)
• Campbellsburg
• Franklin (Township)
• Gibson (Township)
• Hardinsburg
• Howard (Township)
• Jackson (Township)
• Jefferson (Township)
• Little York
• Livonia
• Madison (Township)
• Monroe (Township)
• New Pekin
• Pierce (Township)
• Polk (Township)
• Posey (Township)
• Salem
• Saltillo
• Vernon (Township)
• Washington (Township)

Comments

Well then, there are many that need to be changed. I see a cem for Pumpkin Center, Harristown (which does have a location cat), New Philadelphia, etc. I think in big counties, you will find several repeated names like St. Mary's Cemetery, Blah County, State. You will have to figure out a way to distinguish one from another.

I guess I don't understand the cem locations then, and I thought I did! I have been naming them with locations IF the location has a GNIS ID AND by the map it looks like it's right there in that populated place. So, all of the US cems are a mess then.

---

I will have to take a look through the list and see what I can clean up.

---

It won't be just Indiana, that's for sure.

---

I know I speak to the major players here from the cemetery project, but is that really necessary? Why even dive below county? Corporation limits are kind of unusual things, (wildly irregular shapes that tend to fluctuate quite a bit over time) and wouldn't necessarily be helpful to someone looking for that cemetery (if in a big city, then you need a map anyway. If it's in a small city, then people probably won't know where the city limits are either, and still need a map). County borders are usually more well known and static.

---

Oh my....Amador County California is mostly unincorporated....but, towns exist for Post Office reasons.   So, the entire "city" I live in is actually unincorporated....ie, no mayor or city structure.   That means that we use the County and not the city....sorry, I am confused.

---

I know it a quite a hard topic, but there were a few reasons behind this decision (made long ago - even before I was involved as a Leader for Cemeteries).

The most important point was based on the administrative side of the cemetery and how they are managed and their physical relation to an administrative body. Since unincorporated areas are not locally governed (and instead governed by a larger administration division such as a County or township) it made sense that the cemeteries be listed at the higher levels since by definition, those unincorporated places or 'populated places' have no legal boundaries.

Looking at actual usage now, that seems to add more confusion than may be necessary and probably needs further review.

I have to admit, I am guilty of misnaming categories per this guideline as well since it is hard to apply.

Answer 3

For determining city limits of towns I find that OpenStreetMap.org seems to be the best for places I am not familiar with and also helps with those that I think I know since the boundaries do change.  It shows boundaries of cities, counties, and states.  I will usually use the coordinates mostly from Find A Grave to see where it shows up on the openstreetmap.org website to determine how to name the place for the cemetery.

After I have the information filled out in the Category Info Box (CIB) I will also put a note under that stating what community the cemetery is located in since many old timers in the areas go by the older or community names.  For instance, Cosby, Tennessee is a census designated place, so I listed the cemeteries I have done in Cocke County, Tennessee and under the CIB I noted that the cemetery is located in the Cosby Community.