This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/jUB.2ACI/1075.1.1.1.2.1 Message Board Post: Hi Walter, I am afraid I'm going to have to disagree somewhat. It is not geographic illiteracy involved but the irreducible geographic ambiguity caused by New York's confusing system of nomenclature and political subdivisions- First, Newsday was quite correctly using the dictionary's first definition of "village"- "a small community" when they said "a mile west of the village." They would have been incorrect if they used upper case "a mile west of the Village", or had been speaking in a political sense, but they were speaking in a demographic sense and used lower case. The New York State Legislature has chosen to attach a certain specific meaning to "village" when used in a political sense, but they are not the French Academy and cannot dictate how the English language is used in other senses. Webster's definitions do not stop at the New York State borders. Second, there is no such thing as "the true boundaries" of a hamlet, since officially there is no such entity as a Hamlet in NY. But of course they certainly exist unofficially. If I recall correctly, you use Census "other designated area" boundaries as the boundaries for so-called hamlets. I think those are, in general, the best choice, and come closest to an unofficial community's self-perception of its boundaries, in most cases. If someone else wants to use postal boundaries instead of census boundaries (or fire district or school district for that matter) it is a judgment call, and cannot officially be either right or wrong. I know this system in New York can be terribly confusing to an outsider [and even many insiders ;-) ], and sometimes requires a very close attention to context to determine what is really meant. It is tempting to offer a clear-cut system to remove all uncertainty, but that actually distorts the reality and can lead a newcomer astray if they don't realize that names and words in records might be used in different ways. Best regards, Ned