USGS GNIS Digital Gazetteer CDROM

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Using Topo Maps & Aerial Photos & the GNIS GAZETTEER together

Now you can have access to the USGS GNIS Names Database from your own computer, on your own CDROM, no internet access needed. These gazetteers contain information on every state. These gazetteers are the most complete list of U.S. geographic names available anywhere, giving not only towns or cities, but names of valleys, mountains, streams, rivers, lakes, and even named cemeteries. All States are on the CD with easy to use search software included on the CD. You select which state to search, or search nationwide. Or create advanced searches like, all the lakes in New York. Search results from the database can be used to locate possible sites for: hiking, mountain biking, fishing, geocaching or game lands for your next deer hunt. Use them for surveying, mining, forestry. Use them in genealogy to find where your family lived. Use then with a GPS to enter site coordinates to go to. Hunters, fishermen, skiers, boaters and hikers can all use this database.

What It Is

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) developed by the USGS in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) , contains information about almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States. The Federally recognized name of each feature described in the data base is identified, and references made to a feature's location by State, county, and geographic coordinates. The GNIS data includes physical features such as caves, forests and springs as well as cultural features such as churches, cemetaries and small populated places.

Description of the GNIS Data

Available on the CD are over 1,000,000 records corresponding to the labeled features that can be found on the 1:24,000 scale topographic maps of the US Geological Survey. A synopsis of the GNIS is as follows : "The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a data system developed by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U. S. Board on Geographic Names. The National Geographic Names Data Base is the largest of the GNIS databases, containing records on almost two million geographic feature names in the United States: from populated places, schools, reservoirs, and parks, to streams, valleys, springs, and ridges."

The records retrieved from the GNIS database contain the following fields: feature name, feature type, county, coordinates, mapname.

1. Feature Name: This is the name of the labeled feature on the topographic maps. The Names are capitalized.

2. Feature Type: The feature types represent a classification scheme for sorting labeled features into groups. Note that "ppl" is the feature type for populated places i.e., towns and cities. The feature types available include: airport arch area arroyo bar basin bay beach bench bend bridge building canal cape cemetery channel church cliff crater crossing dam falls flat forest gap geyser glacier gut harbor hospital island isthmus lake lava levee locale mine oilfield other park pillar plain ppl range rapids reserve reservoir ridge school sea slope spring stream summit swamp tower trail tunnel valley well woods

3. County: The county in which the labeled feature occurs.

4. Coordinates: The latitude and longitude for the labeled feature, in the format dddmmssy, where d is degrees, m is minutes, s is seconds, and y is compass direction. The USGS/GNIS Data User's Guide offers the following notes about this field: "The first coordinate in this element is termed the primary coordinate. In the case of areal features, [the coordinates] represent the approximate center of the feature, while the primary coordinates of linear features represent the mouth. The mouth is where the feature joins another feature, ends in a delta or is an alluvial fan, or no longer has a discernible channel or trough-like character... The guideline for digitizing areal features requires that the primary coordinates be taken in the center, but the location of the center of a large city is sometimes somewhat subjective. Additional guidelines for use in determining the placement of the primary geographic corrdinates of large populated places include the location of the city hall or town hall, main post office, main library, central business district, or main intersection."

5. Mapname: The name of the USGS 7.5 minute (1:24,000 scale) topographic map on which the labeled feature is found.

As an example, here are some of the 287 search results for "State Game Land" in the Pennsylvania file:

1 2 3 4 5 Feature Name Feature Type County Coordinates Mapname State Game Lands Number 100 Park Centre 410548N 0780118W Karthaus State Game Lands Number 101 Paek Erie 415110N 0802823W Beaver Center State Game Lands Number 102 Park Erie 415559N 0794832W Union City State Game Lands Number 103 Park Centre 405816N 0775419W Bear Knon State Game Lands Number 104 Park Somerset 395252N 0784536W New Baltimore State Game Lands Number 105 Park Armstrong 405842N 0793745W Chicora State Game Lands Number 107 Park Mifflin 403848N 0772536W Alfarata

Then you can enter the coordinates into your GPS and go right to the site, and know what topo quad to bring!!

Data listings are included for the following areas:

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District Of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Us Concise Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Search Software is included on the CD.

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