South Dakota Gazetteer  > Gazetteer References & Data Sources

Geographic Data

This site makes extensive use of the geographic feature names and locations as maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the official Federal database for domestic geographic feature names data as designated by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names serves the Federal Government and the public as a central authority to which name problems, name inquiries, name changes, and new name proposals may be directed. In partnership with Federal, State, and local agencies, the Board provides a conduit through which uniform geographic name usage is applied and current names data is promulgated. It should be noted that the use of the GNIS Feature ID, Official Feature Name, and Official Feature Location is expected to be approved as an American National Standard Institute (ANSI) standard in the near future.

The HomeTownLocator gazetteers list all features by their official names, but some unofficial alternative or historical names for populated places can also be used for name searches. For example, New York City was named "New Amsterdam" when the town was first incorporated in 1653 as part of a Dutch colonial settlement. A more recent unofficial alternative name for New York City is "The Big Apple". A search for either "New Amsterdam" or "Big Apple" (quotes are not necessary) in the New York Gazetteer will lead you to the community profile for New York City.

The geographic data in the HomeTownLocator gazetteers is updated quarterly, while the data on the USGS Geographic Names Information System is updated nearly continuously.

The USGS has a simple procedure for making additions and corrections to the GNIS database.

Maps

  1. The base maps and aerial photos are produced by the Google Maps API
  2. The topographic maps are produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
  3. The Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles (DOQ) aerial photos are also produced by the USGS
  4. The State and County overlays on the base maps are derived from data produced by the U.S. Census Bureau
  5. The overview map of South Dakota Counties is adapted from a map produced by the U.S. Census Bureu.

ZIP Codes & Area Codes

The city/ZIP Code associations, coordinates for ZIP Code centroids and the classification of city names as "Preferred", "Acceptable Alternative" or "Not Acceptable" are updated quarterly from a commercial distribution of the US Postal Service database.

Census Data

The most definitive data is Census 2000 information and it is identified as such where used. The site also includes the most recent estimates produced by the US Census Bureau. The latest data released (in October 2007) are estimates as of July 1, 2006.