Place names have always been an interest of mine. When someone mentions a new location in your family history, if it’s not already obvious to you be sure to ask for more details about its actual location or at least the general area and county.
When my North Carolina cousin happened to reveal a long-lost family story in 1992, he said they had lived at Carpenter’s Knob, which turned out to be on the Burke County-Cleveland County line. Other cousins knew where it was. That pinned down the story.
Many states have had books published that attempt to list place names in that state, with some type of identification as to where they are located. You should take any of these lists, whether in book or online format, as being incomplete, as there is no way that all place names down to the most local level could ever be rooted out.
Two books I use frequently are Virginia Foscue’s “Place Names in Alabama” (1989) and William S. Powell’s “The North Carolina Gazetteer: A Dictionary of Tar Heel Places” (1968). Several books were done on Georgia place names, the most useful by Marion R. Hemperley and Kenneth Krakow.
The contents of these books can be found at the University of Georgia’s free Galileo site, Georgia Info, which lists 10,000 Georgia place names with many links to maps. The best way to find this is to search for “Georgia place names.” There is a statewide alphabetical list, or you can pull up the list by county, with each place name linked to a map if it appears on one. If not linked to a map, sources are given as to where the information came from. It’s a great site. Look for similar ones for other states.
Native American lecture
Native American towns, settlements and trails in metro Atlanta will be the topic of the Georgia Archives Lunch and Learn seminar at noon Dec. 13.
Alice Graybill of Georgia State University will be the speaker and will give an interesting look at how much Native Americans influenced the area.
The event is free; bring your own lunch. For directions and further information, see www.georgiaarchives.org. The Georgia Archives is open for research 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.Wednesday through Saturday.
Translation help
If you happen upon a website in a foreign language and need a translation, there are many options. Family Tree Magazine suggests using translate.google.com or www.babelfish.com. Also, stevemorse.org has some help, along with other items. And if you use Google Chrome it will ask if you need a translation.
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