Use of "County" in placenames

Question

I have gotten in the habit of using the word county in U.S. place names, and I think with good reason, which I'll try to explain clearly here.

I have seen several cases where someone comes behind my work and removes the word county to make it conform to Wikitree's place name suggestions list that pops up when one enters or edits a place name in the data section of a profile.  I'd like others' thoughts on this.

First, the popup place name list specifically says you do not have to select from the list for the place name.  I, for one, am grateful that this is the case.  I'll give an example of why I use "County" in place names:

If I enter "Marion, Indiana" as  the place name, the suggestion popup offers: Marion, Indiana, United States.  Sounds OK, right?  Trouble is, I have family from Marion, Indiana and that suggestion is the wrong place.  You see, my family are from Marion, Grant County, Indiana.  The popup suggestion is Marion County (where Indianapolis is located) my family is from a good way north of Marion County.  None of that would present a problem if I were simply to type in "Marion, Grant."  Then the suggestion list would show me the correct place.  But what if your only source doesn't tell you that Marion is in Grant County?  Then we have a problem.

Similar problems arise (I've seen them, but have no specific example handy) where there is more than one town in a state named "Newtown" or some such.  The suggestion may or may not be the correct place.

Another one I've seen; a rural birth (for example) will list only a township, because the person was born on a farm, and not in a town.  The word "township" is also not in the place name suggestions, and in some cases there may be an actual town elsewhere in the state which has the same name as a township in a different county.  If you take the suggestion, you may be entering the wrong birthplace for your ancestor.  So "Township" is another word I'll add to clarify a place name on occasion.  But that comes up rarely.  "County" I use all the time.  A county alone, with nothing more exact, also is commonplace in records, particularly rural records. There are also many U.S. place names where the city and the county have the same name.  Easy example – Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.  Often, with these same-name cities/counties, the city is the county seat.

Please note, I am not suggesting that everyone start including the word county (or township) in place names.  By all means, do what you think best.  I'm just asking that people stop removing those words from place names I enter.

Thoughts?

Comments

Thanks for all the answers. And, Hallelujah! I am not alone in using county, or thinking it's a good idea.  Thanks to Dennis for linking the other thread with more confirmation that I'm not alone on this.  I have let the no doubt well-meaning editors go on this in the past, I won't in the future.

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Counties and their relationships to towns change.

I live in an apartment building at Seceders Corner, Liberty Township which used to be in Mahoning County but back in the days of the dinosaurs, the farmers in the township didn't like paying taxes to Youngstown and getting treated like crap by the Y-town politicos, so when the killer asteroid landed and the dinos died off, Liberty Township rose  up and got hooked to Trumbull County so technically some folks were born in Mahoning County and died in Trumbull County and never left the family farm

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I enjoyed your response.  I particularly appreciate its historical accuracy, especially the part about the dinosaurs and the killer asteroid in Mahoning/Trumbull County.  We are fortunate to have true senior citizens like you who still remember such things.  

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I was 40 years old Feb 3 2020

not quite a senior citizen

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It's reincarnation, then!  How else would you know about the dinosaurs and the killer asteroid? (btw, I'm an actual senior-age 67.)

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On a more serious note, I believe Wikitree policy is to use the geographic names that were in use at the time of the event in question.  Notes about name change history can then be added to the bio section.

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I avoid confusing myself by omitting. When you post a letter, you don't write Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio 44501.

If plain ole Youngstown, Ohio is good enough for the US Postal Service.....heyyyyyyy

Answer 1

The suggestion list for place names is NOT from WikiTree. WikiTree uses for that the suggestion list of FamilySearch. When I work on stuff in North America, I also usually add the word county to avoid confusion. In Canada, there is the province "Prince Edward Island". But there is, in Ontario, also the county "Prince Edward County". And I personally think, the word County makes things clearer.

Answer 2

I understand exactly what you are saying. I was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia. My parents and grandparents, great grandparents and on back were also born, married and died there. . If I go to Ancestry, I find some of my ancestors listed as being born, died or married in Shenandoah, Page, Virginia (a town in Page County), Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Shenandoah, Iowa, etc.  An auto generated list probably popped up and someone just clicked on the first one, without bothering to see if it was correct. Use of county names in the United States is essential because so many different counties, towns, townships, boroughs and neighborhoods have the same names.

Answer 3

Hi Fred.  This topic has come up repeatedly in G2G.  The most recent discussion is here:

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1006041/are-we-adding-the-word-county-to-location

and I added some links to that thread where the subject was discussed earlier.  Many of us come from areas where there is ambiguity in place names if you do not include the word 'County,' so I think you're justified in reprimanding anyone who removes it.

Answer 4

The only time I remove county is when the country isn't specified and I'm lazy and use suggestions, but there must be some other problems to lead me to look at the profile.

I have seen cases where township (or twp) is included in the suggested place.

I've seen cases where a record names the place and state, but not the county. This takes more research to figure out which county the family lived in.

Geography is critical, it places individuals with family members, and often occupations. It defines who we are and what we do. Thank you for including this information.

Answer 5

The county's name needs to be listed even if the word "county" is not.

Answer 6

In Louisiana, the political subdivisions are called “parishes” instead of “counties”.

Why Does Louisiana Have Parishes Instead Of Counties?