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GNIS DOCKET #123456
USGS GNIS & U.S. BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES (BGN)
The Place-Name Authority Graph
Every place name on a federal map is a sovereign political decision. Explore how Indigenous toponyms, botanical indicators, and renaming disputes are docketed in the national gazetteer.
4 Curated Toponymic Case Studies
GNIS TOPONYMIC TREEFEATURE ID: #123456
CANONICAL MODERN NAME
Bodie / Chloride / Contention City
Feature Class: Populated Place · Mono County, CA / Mohave & Cochise Counties, AZ
ANCESTRAL INDIGENOUS TOPONYM
Paiute / Tohono O'odham hunting territories
HISTORICAL VARIANTS & SPELLINGS
Bodie Historic DistrictChloride Mining CampContention
BGN OFFICIAL DOCKET HISTORYDECISION YEAR: 1961
GNIS maintains special 'Historical' feature class tags for over 15,000 vanished settlements that appeared on 19th-century USGS topo maps but have zero modern permanent population. These names survive as cartographic anchors for property boundaries, mineral rights, and archaeological registers.
OFFICIAL STATUTORY CITATION
View Official Federal BGN Register / DOI Document