MinorFaults

01 Nov 2014
09:04:16pm

Hello, all ...

I'm not a dedicated postmark collector, but most of my stamps are used, and I like to record some general information about the cancel when it's legible. Which brings up the problem of identifying towns for which I only have a partial name.

I've been using the gazetteer at www.fallingrain.com/world/index.html for a while, now, and have found it very useful if I have at least the front part of the name. If I have only the tail of the name, well, not so much. Unfortunately, the site doesn't offer a partial name search.

What online world-wide gazetteer do other members use? I'm interested in one that offers a partial-name search, and that also lists defunct towns, as well as towns currently in operation. I can't be sure fallingrain.com lists defunct towns, but I've never searched for an identifiable town and not found a record.

Thanks.

MinorFaults


(Modified by Moderator on 2014-11-01 21:38:24)

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TuskenRaider

02 Nov 2014
04:27:18am

re: Online Gazetteer - Which Is Your Favorite?

Hi Everyone;

@ MinorFaults;

I have had the same problem with small definitive stamps, where only 1/3 to 1/2 of the letters will show. Wikipedia has lists of the towns of most all states in the US, Plus most foreign countries.

This is what I used for England; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_towns_in_England, and another for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland etc. Then when I arrive there I use the menu tool "Edit > Find in this page", which will find a string of letters in the beginning, middle or the end of a town name. It is available in the Firefox browser and I think it is also in the "Edit" menu on Internet Explorer.

However there is something I ran into, that won't work for my method or Roy's. If a post office is located in a neighborhood of a City, say for instance Charing Cross, which is a neighborhood in London, it will not be on the list. Another problem is the Royal Post sometimes has an office in a major rail station, which is not a town, and isn't on the Wiki list. The cancel will of course show Charing Cross, or the name of the tube station, but there is no way to always know that it isn't a town.

I just took a look at your Global Gazetteer link, and noticed that you need to first know what county or borough the town is in, but the Wiki lets you search the whole of England on one screen, which seems easier.

@ Roy;

Thank you for the link Roy, I will try that one out next time I'm doing research on small towns.

Keep on searchin'
TuskenRaider

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MinorFaults

02 Nov 2014
10:41:17am

re: Online Gazetteer - Which Is Your Favorite?

Roy ...

Wow, that's quite a site! I think it's what I'm looking for, but I'll have to play with it for a while to get familiar with its workings and terminology. It does seem to be a bit of a mouse built to government specifications (i.e. an elephant). I particularly like the disclaimer, "The names, variants and associated data may not reflect the views of the United States Government on the sovereignty over geographic features." I translate that as, "Them furriners say this little 'ole place is a real state/county/town/village in Lower Slobovia, but whadda they know."

Thank you. This will be very helpful.

MinorFaults

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cdj1122

re: Online Gazetteer - Which Is Your Favorite?

Roy, you just ruined my plans for the next several months as I will be busy decoding the thousand or so Machin "Almost SOTNs" I had set aside to search my Fodor's United Kingdom vacation guidebook and British Auto club highway maps and Index.

Over the years I acquired a stack of recent used guidebooks for various countries and when confronted with a partial name on something worthwhile spent hours combing their index pages.
It worked, but was a slow process.

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