Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Angola, Delaware


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was speedy keep as withdrawn by nominator (18:52, 2 August) with no-one advocating deletion (Speedy keep, #1). Daniel (talk) 21:16, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Angola, Delaware

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I have mixed impulses about this one, and I hope someone else can come up with something because searching is completely hopeless. So the first problem is that "Angola" and "Angola by the Bay" are not the same place, as doing a GNIS query will show, as well as eight other places around the area with "Angola" somewhere in the name. "Angola by the Bay" is a big gated community NE of Angola itself— maybe, for GNIS describes Angola itself as a locale. I've fixed the article to have the right GNIS ID and coordinates, but that still leaves the question of what Angola is. I'm not wedded to GNIS's classification, and the FWP text tends to argue that it was perhaps a tiny village. I have to say "was" because there's nothing there now. But the other possibility is that Angola was in fact a larger, vague area encompassing some or all of the nine other places named after it. SO as I said at the beginning, I'm looking for help here. Mangoe (talk) 02:26, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Delaware-related deletion discussions. Eastmain (talk • contribs) 04:06, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Geography-related deletion discussions. Eastmain (talk • contribs) 04:07, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Keep. Two of the references in the article seem to prove Angola, Delaware exists. I believe this means this topic passes WP:GEOLAND and therefore satifies the criteria for inclusion. The first reference is the Google Books reference - pages 501 and 502. Input the search term "Angola" for this book to see these pages. This locale is distinct from "Angola Neck". The other reference describes a Methodist group and church located in Angola, Delaware in 1800, 1832, 1968, 2009, 2010 . I haven't done a thorough job of checking the other references yet. ---Steve Quinn (talk) 13:17, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Keep. Multiple sources confirm Angola was a "town", "community", "village" or "populated place". The earliest reference I can find to Angola, the Delaware community, is this 1854 newspaper article, but there are 723 more results on NewspaperArchive to sift through. I expanded the article last night, using mostly news stories from Wilmington newspapers. More could certainly be added. Even those without NewspaperArchive access can find info about Angola on Google Books, or check its population figures going back to the 1890 Census (Angola's population back then was 12), the 1900 Census (pop. 18), or the 1920 Census (population 95). Even as early as 1800, Angola had a school, and by the 1830s, it had a church. For a while, it had more than one church, as a second church was blown off its foundations, according to an 1876 article. There was an Angola Post Office, an Angola Telephone Company, and a general store. There is history here, and not all of it great: the Delaware Federal Writers' Project confirms Angola was a segregated community in the 1950s, and confirms the fact the area was called Angola as early as the 1600s due to the imported slaves forcibly brought to the area. Possibly some mention can be made of the modern subdivisions around Angola in the Wikipedia article (to bring the article up to modern times), but this is definitely a noted and noteworthy place. Firsfron of Ronchester  20:46, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

-comment Given the improvements made, for which I tank those who did so, I think this article should be kept. Mangoe (talk) 18:52, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * This AFD was closed as "keep" by User:Steve Quinn at 22:54 on 1 August 2021. As the closure was performed by an involved editor and took place before the prescribed period for the listing had ended, I, acting as an uninvolved administrator in line with WP:DPR, have vacated the closure and reopened the AFD. Stifle (talk) 08:44, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Keep: Steve's argument is flawed in that a place simply existing is not enough to satisfy WP:GEOLAND. However, I'm in concurrence with Firsfron here. The fact it was separated in multiple censuses means the community previously had legality, conferring notability. Additionally, even if it wasn't a legal place, the history of the community as a former slave settlement and the decent-though-lacking sourcing regarding that meet GNG. Curbon7 (talk) 11:16, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Keep - I think this one's been fleshed out enough to demonstrate notability. Hog Farm Talk 17:05, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Keep - Speaking from personal experience, this area is now just a bunch of large vacation-oriented housing developments rather than a distinct community (similar to the description at nearby Long Neck, Delaware), but the article has enough historical content to meet GNG. –dlthewave ☎ 20:08, 2 August 2021 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.