A Civic Group's Best Friend: The U.S. Board of Geographic Names

Civic Groups Everywhere, take note:  you are going to love the U.S. Board of Geographic Names (BGN). 

First some background.  This Board was formed in September 1890 and was given the authority to resolve all unsettled questions concerning geographic names.  Evidently this problem occurred and does occur more than most of us realize.  Decisions of the BGN were accepted as binding by all departments and agencies of the Federal Government. 

Names are submitted for decisions to the Board of Geographical Names by individuals, private organizations, or government agencies. It is the BGN's responsibility to render formal decisions on new names, proposed changes in names, and names which are in conflict. The decisions define the spellings and applications of the names for use on maps and other publications of Federal agencies.

Although its official purpose is to resolve name problems and new name proposals for the federal government, the BGN also plays a similar role for the general public. Any person or organization, public or private, may make inquiries or request the BGN to render formal decisions on proposed new names, proposed name changes, or names that are in conflict. Generally, the BGN defers federal name use to comply with local usage.

I discovered this agency's existence a few years ago, and in early 2010 on behalf of the Osborne County Genealogical and Historical Society I went to the Board's website and discovered that the majority of local natural landmarks in the county did not have official names.  As many of these features have had local names for the past 140 years, I downloaded the website's forms and filled out several for notable county features, submitting the local names for future official designation.  And the whole process was free!!

A few months later, on January 7, 2011, I received a letter from the Board informing me that the Society's proposal to make official the names for eleven geographic features in Osborne County was approved. The names have been entered into the Geographic Names Information System, the nation's official geographic names repository, which is available and searchable online at http://geonames.usgs.gov, and will always be used in the future on all official Federal maps. The actual entries read as follows:

Alton Bluffs: cliff; located in Sumner Township 1.4 kilometers (0.9 miles) south of Alton, on the south bank of the South Fork Solomon River; named in association with the nearby community of Alton; Osborne County, Kansas; Sections 12-14 & 18, Township 7 South, Range 15 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°27'09"N, 98°56' 52"W; USGS map -Alton 1 :24,000.

Dry Creek: stream; 18 kilometers (11 miles) long; heads in Lincoln Township of Smith County, Kansas, 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) northeast of Portis at 39°37'32"N, 98°34'42"W, flows south into Ross Township of Osborne County, Kansas, to enter the North Fork Solomon River, 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) southwest of Downs; Townships 5 & 6 South, Range 11 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°29' 40''N, 98°34'13"W; USGS map -Downs South 1:24,000.

Elm Creek: stream; 21 kilometers (13 miles) long; heads in Lincoln Township of Smith County, Kansas, 12 kilometers (7.7 miles) north-northwest of Downs at 39°36'41''N, 98°33'23"W, flows south into Ross Township of Osborne County, Kansas, to enter the North Fork Solomon River 4.3 kilometers (2.7 miles) east-southeast of Downs; Townships 5 & 6 South, Range 11 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°29' 40"N, 98°34' 13"W; USGS map -Mill Creek 1:24,000.

Gimblet Creek: stream; 12 kilometers (7.3 miles) long; heads in Winfield Township of Osborne County, Kansas, 22 kilometers (14 miles) south of Osborne at 39°14'09"N, 98°39'08"W, flows northeast into Twin Creek; named for local settler Josiah Gimblet (1817 -?); Townships 8 & 9 South, Range 12 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°18'36"N, 98°39'08"W; USGS map -Osborne SW 1 :24,000.

Higgins Bluff: cliff; located in Ross Township of Osborne County, Kansas, on the southern end of a prominent hill 6.9 kilometers (4.3 miles) northeast of Downs; named for buffalo hunter John Higgins (died 1870) who was killed by Indians and buried at the foot of the hill; Sections 2 & 18, Township 6 South, Range 11 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°33'25''N, 98°31 '16"W; USGS map -Downs North 1 :24,000.

North Hill: summit; elevation 543 meters (1,782 feet); located in Penn Township of Osborne County, Kansas 4.3 kilometers (2.7 miles) north of Osborne; Sections 6 & 18, Township 7 South, Range 12 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°28'35''N, 98°41 '48"W; USGS map -Osborne 1:24,000.

Pilot Mound: summit; elevation 592 meters (1,941 feet); located in Mount Ayr Township of Osborne County, Kansas, 0.6 kilometers (0.4 miles) south of Medicine Creek, 4.6 kilometers (2.9 miles) west of Kill Creek; named by local residents because early travelers and current airline pilots use the summit as a location marker; Sections 22 & 18, Township 8 South, Range 15 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°20'39''N, 98°58'37"W; USGS map -Alton SW 1:24,000.

Skunk Creek: stream; 18 kilometers (11 miles) long; heads in Grant Township at 39°33' 12''N, 98°56' 14"W, flows south-southeast through Hawkeye Township of Osborne County, Kansas, and into Sumner Township, to its confluence with the South Fork Solomon River 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) east-southeast of Alton; named by local residents because of the large number of skunks encountered along the stream by the area's first settlers;; Townships 6 & 7 South, Ranges 14 & 15 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°27'34''N, 98°53'43"W; USGS map -Alton SW 1:24,000.

South Hill: summit; elevation 550 meters (1,805 feet); located in Hancock Township of Osborne County, Kansas, 5.9 kilometers (3.7 miles) south of Osborne; Section 6, Township 8 South, Range 12 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°23 '05''N, 98°41' 57"W; USGS map -Osborne 1 :24,000.

Sunny Slope Mound: summit; elevation 568 meters (1,864 feet); located in Covert Township of Osborne County, Kansas, 22 kilometers (14 miles) south-southeast of Osborne; Section 14, Township 9 South, Range 13 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°16'35''N, 98°44'09"W; USGS map -Osborne SW 1 :24,000.

Tabletop Hill: summit; elevation 568 meters (1,864 feet); located in Valley Township of Osborne County, Kansas, 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Osborne;; Section 29, Township 10 South, Range 13 West, Sixth Principal Meridian; 39°09'36"N, 98°47' 58"W; USGS map -Paradise NE 1 :24,000.

So other than cleaning up some names on the Osborne County map for the Federal Government, just what does this have to do with the hard-won love of Civic Groups Everywhere, you ask?

It's this:  take a moment and think of the possibilities.  You have a local notable figure that you want to honor in some manner.  Traditionally it has been normal to name a street, building, park, etc., after a deserving person.  But look around!  Is there a nearby unnamed creek, or unnamed hill, or some other significant geographic feature nearby that could be officially named/renamed in someone's honor? 

Or create your own name for a geographic feature in order to draw attention to your city or region.  A great example is the highest point in the state of Kansas.  The site is actually unimpressive on its own; simply another spot amid relatively flat terrain in Wallace County.  But give it the grand name of "Mount Sunflower," add a small shrine featuring a metal sunflower sculpture and a picnic table to the site, and after a bit of advertising it has achieved iconic status and regularly draws people from all over the United States to "scale the summit."

So add this potential blockbuster to your arsenal of possibilities, you civic, town, county, regional, and statewide boosters!  Get out there and let's see an entire set of new names spread out across the Kansas geographical landscape in this new century!