In a message dated 12/4/98 4:24:54 PM PST, MossLJ@aol.com writes: << There is a Downing School in Runnymeade, NJ. >> That got me curious. I have a CD-ROM (The Geographic Reference Library) with nearly a million place names in the United States. Fortunately, the disk has a nice search engine, so I entered "Downing", and came up with over 60 place names containing that surname. I printed them all out. We've all been working hard, searching our DOWNING ancestors and cousins. So let's have some fun. I'll post all 60+ names and locations. All the information I have on these locations will be posted, so please don't ask me for further details -- I don't have any. But if some of you are familiar with any of these, how about sharing your knowledge with the rest of us? Some e-mail servers are limited in space, so I'll break this down into about three posts so as not to exceed your e-mail space. And all locations are grouped by states, and I'll post them in state alphabetical order. Here we go! Downing Industrial School (historical school) Escambia co. AL (variant names: Downing Industrial Institute; Downing-Shofner Institute) Downing Post Office (historical building) Montgomery co., AL Downing Cabin (site) Plumas co., CA Downing Canyon (valley) Lassen co., CA Downing Brook (waterway) Windham co., CT Downing Lake (lake) Columbia co., FL Downing Creek (waterway) Cherokee co., GA Downing Creek (waterway) Brooks co., GA Downing Island (island) Wayne co., GA Downing High School (school) St. Clair co., IL Downing (residential area) Morris co., KS variant name: Kelso Downing Pines Industrial Park (site) Ouachita Parrish, LA Downing Bog Stream (waterway) Hancock co., ME (love that one!) Downing Brook (waterway) Aroostook co., ME Downing Pond (lake) Hancock and Washington cos., ME Downing Street School (school) Worcester, MA Downing Cemetery (cemetery) Sanilac co., MI ****More to come****