Correcting a standardized geographic location

btt876

A small part of the village of Valley Falls, NY is located in the Town of Schaghticoke, but is mostly located in the Town of Pittstown. The standardized data defaults to Schaghticoke. If a 2nd standardized location can't be added, could the default be changed to Pittstown?

Valley Falls, Schaghticoke, Rensselaer, New York, United States

ScottSeegmiller

Here is an article on how to change a place name.

How do I correct or edit a place in FamilySearch Places?

Article Id: 13666

February 25, 2022

Thank you for taking the time to improve our place information. We value your submission and will review it carefully.

Steps (website)

1. Begin at FamilySearch Places.
2. In the search box, enter the place that interests you.
3. Click the appropriate search result.
4. On the right-hand side of the screen, below the map, click Improve This Place.
   • To see the link for Improve This Place, make sure that you are signed in.
5. A box appears with the title "Suggest an Improvement."
   1. Use the drop-down menu to identify what is incorrect or incomplete with the current entry.
   2. Enter a brief description of what needs to be changed or added.
   3. If possible, enter the URL of a website that can be used to validate the new information.
   4. Enter your email, in case more information is needed.
6. Click Submit.

Here you will see that the alternate names show the additional information that you suggested.

So I think that we have as much of the information as we can fit in the Standardized place.

However, you can suggest a new place if indeed Valley Falls New York should be a separate place.

Scott

btt876

thanks, I put a comment in. If more can't be fit, I would suggest swapping the Town of Schaghticoke with Pittstown since its only a few houses north of the river versus the much larger village center. The village of Schaghticoke is just to the west, so it could be confusing.

RondaF

When entering a place name for an event, what should I do if I'm sure I have the correct place, but it does not appear iin the list of standardized places?

Maile L

Please see the Help article https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-request-a-new-place-in-the-database-of-standardized-places

Gordon Collett

@RondaF , there will likely never be a time when every place thorough out all of history will be in the list of standardized places. Other times, to avoid confusion, you may need to include terms the standardize name does not. Also there will be many times when you may want to specify a smaller place than the database will ever cover. It is only going to go so small. In those situations, you enter the correct place name then link it to the most appropriate standard which will usually be either the next geographical level up or the same place under a different name.

The place name entry ends up looking like this:

The other thing you should do if you know where the place is and are sure you are typing the name correctly, is to go to the Places database and see if by chance the place is in the standardized names list but under a slightly different form.

To do this, go to the database at: https://www.familysearch.org/research/places/?pagenum=1&pagesize=100

Scroll and zoom on the map until you come to the general area of the place.

Click on the map to set a location point:

Click directly on that location icon a second time to open a small pop up:

Enter a distance and click Search:

This will give you a list of all locations currently in the database in a circle of that radius. You may find the place you want to enter with a slightly different spelling. Or you may confirm that it really is just not in the database yet and you can request it be added.