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A gazetteer essentially is an alphabetical list of geographic names that are currently applied or have been applied to places and features of the landscape. Varying in scope, depth, and quality, they are an invaluable resource for locating innumerable place and feature names that are now in use or have fallen out of use. Often employed in conjunction with historical maps, gazetteers enable researchers to identify sites of particular interest. Entries in a a gazetteer can, but do not necessarily include, the recommended name conforming to present-day usage, a feature designation, geographical coordinates, i.e latitude and longitude, the name derived from decision by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, variations in spellings as well as cognates, and information regarding the origin, history, and meaning of a name.
The Geography and Map Reading Room holds hundreds of gazetteers covering the landscape at the celestial, planetary, world, oceanic, continental, national, regional, state, county, and municipal levels. With two exceptions, the ones listed here pertain only to those that identify geographic features with Native American place names, or features associated with North American Indians. Because Native American place names currently apply or have applied to geographic features used throughout the coterminous United States and Alaska, their numbers are legion and occur throughout North America. The gazetteers below fall into two broad categories: gazetteers at the national and regional levels, and those at the state and local levels.
Researchers should keep in mind that modern and historical gazetteers that include comprehensive coverage of the United States and the several States likely contain entries citing Native American place names. This is especially true for those states with historically large Native American populations.
The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information about each title in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.
The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information about each title in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.