Talk:Spearfish, South Dakota

Water Area
There is a comment in the article inappropriately wondering why "Spearfish creek" is not considered water area. According to this PDF document, the US Census definition of water-area is "large water area". In order for Spearfish Creek to be considered a large water area:

The NRI definition of large water is that used by the Census Bureau through the 1980 Census, and consists of water bodies >= 40 acres or streams >= 660 feet wide at normal pool, as defined in the 1997 NRI instruction manual (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1997).

Normal Pool is defined here as The typical elevation of a lake or river, especially one controlled by a dam, which is between low water level and high water level.

I'm not a Spearfish resident, but have visited several times, and believe Spearfish creek as it runs through Spearfish, is as wide as 50 feet wide in some places, and is in most cases, narrower. I do not find it hard to believe that Spearfish Creek is not considered a water area based on these definitions.

--Anopheles (talk) 16:46, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Spearfish is NOT located in the geographic center of the United States, it is located in the geographic center of North America. Edited page to reflect that fact. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.134.54.56 (talk) 20:01, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

I thought the geographic center of North America was near Rugby, ND. If so that places it far away from Spearfish and not just a "few miles". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.119.32.249 (talk) 15:28, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

From the North America article on wikipedia::---> The United States Geographical Survey states that the geographic center of North America is "6 miles west of Balta, Pierce County, North Dakota" at approximately 48°10′N 100°10′W﻿ / ﻿48.167°N 100.167°W﻿ / 48.167; -100.167, approximately 15 miles (25 km) from Rugby, North Dakota. The USGS further states that “No marked or monumented point has been established by any government agency as the geographic center of either the 50 States, the conterminous United States, or the North American continent.” Nonetheless, there is a 15-foot (4.5 m) field stone obelisk in Rugby claiming to mark the center.

Actually, Belle Fourche, SD is near the geographic center of the US (which is pegged approx. 20 miles north of there). So, Spearfish is in the vicinity of the geographic center of the US, but it is NOT the actual geographic center. From the Wikipedia page for Belle Fourche, SD --->"In 1959, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey officially designated a point 20 miles north of Belle Fourche as the geographic center of the United States. It is the center of the nation because the admission of Alaska and Hawaii to the United States moved the location of the official center of the nation."

Temperature unit of measurement
I noticed the unit of measurement for temperature was recently changed from Fahrenheit to Celsius; the reason provided in the edit summary was that all measurements should be to international standards, not just American ones. However, The Manual of Style at WP:UNIT states here:

"In non-science US-related articles: the main quantity is generally expressed in US customary units (97 pounds (44 kg))."

And from the Meteorology WikiProject:

"Note on units: All quantities should be expressed in both imperial units and metric units, regardless of the affected area. The primary measurements used in this project are imperial units, although primary-metric can be used in events that only affect regions that use only the metric system (i.e. Canada, Mexico, most of Europe). For example, to show winds of 50 mph, it should be listed as "50 mph (80 km/h)" in most circumstances. Rounding should be done to reasonable levels."

This means that in US articles, American units of any scope would be used first; since Spearfish is located in the United States and is not science-oriented, Fahrenheit would be the primary unit.

In addition, it is a commonly accepted standard among US city articles that Fahrenheit be the primary unit expressed, and Celsius be secondary (for example, see the climate charts of Hillsboro, Oregon ((FA)), Denver, and Pierre, South Dakota).

I would like to change the units back to Fahrenheit but do not want to start an edit war, so I decided to bring it up here first. Thanks!  –  T C  Memoire  02:12, 8 January 2014 (UTC)
 * I've switched them back to the original - your reading of WP:UNIT is correct. Alexius  Horatius  02:28, 8 January 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100210030454/http://history.sd.gov/Archives/forms/exhibits/SD%20Towns.pdf to http://history.sd.gov/Archives/forms/exhibits/SD%20Towns.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20161019182931/https://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2015/SUB-EST2015-3.html to http://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2015/SUB-EST2015-3.html
 * Added archive http://www.webcitation.org/699nOulzi?url=http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt to http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt
 * Added archive https://archive.is/20160602200744/http://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2015/SUB-EST2015.html to http://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2015/SUB-EST2015.html

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External links modified
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External links modified (January 2018)
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