Louisianians or Louisianans won't like calling their Parishes - Counties

LegacyUser

Don M Thomas said:

LegacyUser

A van Helsdingen said: Louisiana and Montana are the odd states out by calling their highest level of subdivisions beneath the state "parishes" and "boroughs" respectively, rather than counties. That is why the term "county equivalent" is used in many official settings.

As was discussed last month in a thread about the Confederate States of America, FS can't be expected to completely or accurately track all jurisdictions across all time periods. Some changes have to be omitted or simplified.

In situation, I think what FS has done is very reasonable.

LegacyUser

Don M Thomas said: It is Alaska that has Boroughs. Montana has Counties.

LegacyUser

A van Helsdingen said: Yes, I knew that it was Alaska. Somehow wrote Montana by mistake.

LegacyUser

Gordon Collett said: Don't forget that the standardized name is just a stand in for latitude and longitude on the map and that the text sitting there may be just one of several possibilities that could have been used. Likewise, the category name for type of place may be one of several possible and choosing which one probably does involve keeping the same type of places under the same category. If someone is doing a place search through all the counties in the United States, would Louisiana and Alaska want to be left out?



Also, don't forget that users of Family Tree can use the displayed place name to be very accurate. This includes using the full, correct place name:



Clicking on the grey bar will enter the full place name.

A third thing to not forget: Keep reminding everyone you come in contact with that the lack of a map pin does not mean a place name is wrong. The lack of a map pin, in fact, should mean the place name is more correct than the version with the map pin because it has more detail.

(Before anyone complains that accepted genealogical standards state we do not include such things as County and Parish in place names, let me state that there are all sorts of standards developed in the days of paper forms with limited space and typewriters that we have out grown. Don't let obsolete standards interfere with correct information and clear communication.)

LegacyUser

Adrian Bruce said: Strange - when I did "Search Within: United States" and looked at the drop down for Place Type, it showed "Counties and Districts". (I was of course wondering whether "Baltimore" was going to appear twice, once as the County and once as the Independent City. But I didn't get that far!)

I have to say that I'm not keen on the idea of a fixed hierarchy of types - you get the Louisiana county / parish issue if you don't use a phrase like "County Equivalent". And some countries don't split consistently anyway - take the Germany of the German Empire era where I think I'm right in saying that Prussia would have more levels in its hierarchy than some other states - especially the city states, though that may be a cheat on my part!

Not easy, I have to say....

PS - re "accepted genealogical standards state we do not include such things as County and Parish in place names" - I for one firmly reject any standard that requires me to deliberately confuse Baltimore, Maryland, United States with Baltimore, Maryland, United States!!!