us toponymy resources

tips from Monmonier's From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow include not only the history of various US state and federal mapping and gazetteer compiling bodies, but also the names of online resources to do your own toponymy research (which I is doin' right now-like.)

To search the country for places named after your grandfather, your favorite animal, your favorite racial slur, or items of women's anatomy, go to the GNIS (Geographic Names Information System) query page. GNIS yields a listing with links to more info (at top) but no map. The info may or may not include an explanation of where the name comes from, plus listings of name variants (former names no longer used, often because they were offensive), and a lot of map geek info.

Or, for mappiness, you can check it on the USGS (United State Geological Survey) National Map Viewer, where there's a "find place" button on the left. It's a little counterintuitive, since you have to change the map viewer from a seperate pop-up window. And it's slow. But coolness awaits. (That, just above, is the unlabeled location of Chink's Peak.)

Yep, the print is tiny but you got it right. That right there is Claire City. Now all I have to do is find Planet Claire.