Template talk:Monterey County, California

message: Continuing the conversation from above, since it never went anywhere--a number of the places that were added to this template are, it seems to me, of uncertain status as to whether they ought to be listed as "Unincorporated communities" or "Former settlements". As I described above (and in footnoted detailed at Dinsmores, California and Talk:Dinsmores, California) a GNIS "populated place" entry by itself does not distinguish between current and former settlements (unless marked "historical"). In the Durham book also used as a reference on some of these pages there is a distinction between places called "town", "village", "settlement", etc, and those called simply "locality". My interpretation of Durham is by "locality" he means "former settlement". But I am not totally sure about this, which leaves open the basic question--places listed on this template whose pages use only a GNIS reference or GNIS and a Durham "locality" reference may be currently settled places or may be abandoned settlements--in some cases long abandoned by the way Durham describes them. There are perhaps 20 such cases now listed as "unincorporated communities" on this template. The best thing would be to research each of them and figure out what they really are. I don't have time for that. I would like to take them off the template at least until someone does want to take the time to figure it out. In addition, if there is time, I would edit each place's page to say they are "localities" rather than "unincorporated communities", since the references are not clear on the matter. Edits similar to the Dinsmores page, but without the paragraph of details about GNIS and Durham. Make sense? As it stands I think we have about 20 places listed as "unincorporated communities" that probably ought to be "former settlements", but for which the sources provided do not allow such a distinction to be made. Here's the list of such places--those whose references are only a GNIS entry and a Durham "locality" description (some are not in Durham at all): Ambler Park, California, Blanco, Monterey County, California, Camphora, California, Coburn, California, Confederate Corners, California, Cooper, Monterey County, California, Corral de Tierra, California (Durham calls a "land grant"), Dean, California, Del Monte, California, East Garrison, California (Durham calls a former military base, or part of one), Elsa, California, Harlem, California, Jamesburg, California, Lonoak, California, Martinus Corner, California, Metz, California, Molus, California, Moss, Monterey County, California, Nacimiento, California, Nashua, California, Natividad, California, Neponset, California, Oak Hills, Monterey County, California, Old Hilltown, California (Durham describes as a "land grant"), Penvir, California, Plaskett, California, Pleyto, California, Posts, California, Santa Rita, Monterey County, California, Spence, California, Spreckels Junction, California, Sycamore Flat, California, Valleton, California, Watsonville Junction, California, Welby, California, and Wunpost, California. If anyone can provide additional information about any of these places that resolves their unclear status, please do! Pfly (talk) 01:29, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I concur with your suggestion. Many of the locations mentioned above are railroad sidings; most are 'former' but a few are still in use. These were unpopulated, but were often named on US topographical maps because the were very reliable and fixed locations that made for useful reference points when there may have been few nearby settlements. Perhaps "Ghost towns and former settlements" should be changed to something like "Miscellaneous localities" (as an example) that would include never-populated locales named on maps. A new separate entry at the bottom should be "Indigenous localities" to include all the sites whose locations aren't even known by modern man, but were added and now cannot be deleted. Highspeed (talk) 05:30, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Places with unclear status 

message: As noted in related comments above, a number of the so-called "unincorporated communities" listed are not communities at all, but former settlements or, less than that, a locality with a few houses and a post office for a few years around the turn of the century. For example, Notleys Landing was never more than a half-dozen homes, and given the Big Sur Local Coastal Plan, it will always be less than that. Jamesburg once had a post office, but with at most 5 or 6 homes within a half-mile of it today, it hardly qualifies as a community. Tassajara Hot Springs was never more than a resort; Spreckels Junction and  Millers Ranch and I'm sure almost all of the others were never more than a place name with a post office, if that.  
Some so-called communities are a pretty far stretch, for example, Pacific Grove Acres? I grew up on the Monterey Peninsula and I never heard of any such former or current community. I can't find any credible proof of its prior existance. All references to it seem to be generated by the Wikipedia entry. Just because it exists in the USGS GNIS database doesn't mean it merits inclusion, unless this is some kind of Wikipedia standard for all place names. (In which case the standard is flawed, IMO.)
I suggest leaving those that currently can claim a few dozen residents like Natividad, Pebble Beach, and Palo Colorado Canyon as "unincorporated communities" and adding a category named "Former Settlements" for the rest. — btphelps (talk to me) (what I've done) 07:09, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Feel free to move some of these to the "Ghost towns" row. If "Ghost towns" is not quite appropriate, you should probably change that to "Former settlements" like what is on Template:Alameda County, California. None of these country templates have both separate "Ghost towns" and "Former settlements" as far as I can tell (a ghost town is basically a former settlement, right?). Zzyzx11 (talk) 05:11, 9 September 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unincorporated communities ?