Gazetteers and Place Names
: : Gazetteers : : Online Gazetteers : : Place Name Works : :
Gazetteers are geographic dictionaries. They usually provide basic information on a locality that often includes latitude and longitude, what country or state it is located in, and a short description of that place. Below is a listing of some of the gazetteers GVSU owns, as well as some excellent online gazetteers. Other gazetteers can be found by searching in the University Libraries online catalog.
Place name books are similar in many ways to gazetteers and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but they generally differ in that entries in place name books usually focus on the origin of a locale's name instead of its location. Below you will find a select list of place name works GVSU owns. You can find other place name books by searching the University Libraries online catalog.
- The Columbia Gazetteer of the World
- Zumberge Stacks, G103.5 .C65 1998
- Three-volume set. Entries provide pronunciation, definition (city, state, etc.), location, latitude and longitude, and a description.
- Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America
- Abate, Frank R.
- Zumberge Stacks, E154 .O45 1991
- Eleven volume set includes nearly 1.5 million places and features in the United States and its territories. Entries include the name, type of feature, population and ZIP Code (when a locality), county where located, USGS 7.5 minute topographic map name, latitude and longitude coordinates, and elevation data.
- American Places Dictionary: A Guide to 45,000 Populated Places, Natural Features, and Other Places in the United States.
- Abate, Frank R.
- Zumberge Reference, E154 .A48 1994
- Four-volume set. States organized by region and entries by county within each state. Entries provide a description, latitude and longitude, and name origin information. Appendices include American Indian Reservations, Major Military Installations, and Major U.S. Geographic Features.
- Gazetteer of the State of Michigan
- Blois, John T.
- Seidman Regional Historical Collection, F564 .B65 1838 and online
- Michigan Gazetteer
- Zumberge Stacks, F564 .M53 1991
- Entries provide ZIP Code, latitude and longitude, a brief description and some historical information.
- The National Gazetteer of the United States of America
- Zumberge Government Documents, I 19.16: 1200-US
- U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. Entries provide name, feature class (populated place, lake, cliff, etc.), county, state, and coordinates to the second.
- Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
- This database "contains information about almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and its territories. The Federally recognized name of each feature described in the data base is identified, and references are made to a feature's location by State, county, and geographic coordinates...The GNIS also contains information on geographic names in Antarctica which are approved by the BGN for use by the Federal Government."
- GEOnet Names Server (GNS)
- Find foreign geographic features' names in this database, which covers the entire world with the exception of the United States and Antarctica, which are in the Geographic Names Information System. The GNS has 3.97 million features in it with 5.45 million names.
- Census Bureau Gazetteer
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Search for places, counties or minor civil divisions in the United States using the locations name or ZIP Code. This gazetteer is based on the 1990 Census and does not include Census Designated Places. Access a map of the location as well as 1990 census data. 2000 Census Gazetteer files are available for download (as are 1990 files), but they are not in a search engine like the 1990 data.
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"The TGN is a structured vocabulary containing more than one million names and other information about places. The TGN includes all continents and nations of the modern political world, as well as historical places. It includes physical features and administrative entities, such as cities and nations. The emphasis in TGN is on places that are important for art and architecture."
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"The Canadian Geographical Names Data Base (CGNDB) contains some 500,000 records, over two-thirds of which are currently official names, as approved by the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (CPCGN)."
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"With 50,000 entries, this most comprehensive encyclopedia of geographical places and features will prove invaluable to anyone for whom places hold fascination and who require accurate data about them. It covers every incorporated place and county in the United States, along with several thousand unincorporated places, special-purpose sites, and physical features, as well as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean."
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This simple to use gazetteer allows you to find physical and cultural features or Census 2000 information for locations throughout the United States. The site also includes links to Terraserver's arial photography database and a distance calculator.
- Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
- Entries include pronunciation, location, area, population, and some history.
- Illustrated Dictionary of Place Names, United States and Canada
- Harder, Kelsie B.
- Zumberge Stacks, E155 .H37
- Michigan Place Names
- Romig, Walter
- Zumberge Stacks & Seidman Regional Historical Collection, F564 .R6
- Placenames of the World
- Room, Adrian
- Zumberge Stacks, G105 .R66 2006
- American Place Names
- Holt, Alfred Hubbard
- Zumberge Reference, E155 .H65 1969
- This work differs from the others in that it focuses on accurate local pronunciation of the location.
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