Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Locust Grove, King and Queen County, Virginia


 * 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   delete. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:06, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Locust Grove, King and Queen County, Virginia

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A hoax, although quite obviously created in good faith: it's based on a mistaken source. According to the GNIS source on the article (comment at end of my remarks), this is a populated place without municipal identity, i.e. an unincorporated community. However, GNIS sometimes makes errors — see Articles for deletion/Mount Jefferson (Ohio), a community that the GNIS classed as a mountain, or the discussion at User talk:Coal town guy, where it's noted that they misclassified the community of Sassafras Ridge, Kentucky as a ridgeline. Here, too, we have an error: USGS topo maps (accessible by clicking the coords and then picking Acme Mapper) mark it, but not necessarily as a town, and satellite view shows it to be a mix of woods and open country. Could it be a ghost town? Not likely — Google yields results for a Locust Grove near Walkerton, but they're for a Locust Grove plantation located almost precisely where GNIS says this community is located. GNIS has clearly misidentified the plantation as a community, and since plantations aren't necessarily notable, this should be deleted unless someone provides evidence of notability for it. Final note The article's GNIS source is down, but that's temporary; a few days ago, their server admins posted their equivalent of Mediawiki:Sitenotice saying that they were going to take it down for a little bit to perform maintenance. Nyttend (talk) 04:56, 27 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Comment After doing a bit of research, it appears that all references to a "Locust Grove" in King and Queen County are to the Locust Grove farm or Locust Grove plantation, which is a prominent locale but doesn't appear to have been a community. It seems that the GNIS mis-classified this place as a populated place rather than a locale; considering they've done the reverse on several occasions, this doesn't surprise me too much. The plantation might be notable, though, since there are a number of references which mention or describe it and it's the site of Fort Mattaponi, which appears to be listed on the NRHP under an alternate spelling. However, my inclination is to delete the article as it stands, since it's not even about the plantation and an article on the plantation would have a different title. (I'd also like to see the GNIS listing to see their citation for the placename; I suspect it's internal research, but if it's an external source that might be enlightening.) (The source is now back online, and it cites USGS data as I suspected.) TheCatalyst31 Reaction•Creation 06:36, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Comment I concur with Catalyst on this 100%. I just got back from a drive after doing a camping trip, its a place for a specific structure, not a community per se. I am sure in the late 19th century, it MIGHT have functioned like a small community, BUT, thats not relevant...Coal town guy (talk) 13:01, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Observation. I have been able to work with GNIS on several occasions just as others have as well. In the specific instance of Locust Grove, its an error on the part of GNIS. However, as myself and Catalyst have experienced, it is not at all out of the norm for this to happen. Of potential interest, after speaking at length with some folks at GNIS, their "mission" emphasis is to document current populated places. Historic places, are not at the top of their list. It is a courtesy that they actually do anything with historic communities, luckily, they are gracious to anyone who cares enough to provide data and history of an area.Coal town guy (talk) 13:10, 27 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Delete as creator. Though given TheCatalyst's comments above, I wonder if it mightn't be worthwhile to check into it as a historical name for one of the plantations near the fort.  (The fort's locale is given as Walkteron, Virginia, which has two other NRHP sites associated with it.  And I know that the NRHP doesn't always take the latest and/or most correct name when accepting a nomination.) -- Ser Amantio di Nicolao Che dicono a Signa?Lo dicono a Signa. 14:24, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
 * That's precisely why I said "unless someone provides evidence of notability"; someone did that with the Mount Jefferson thing I mentioned up above, and I was happy to see it continue and to provide additional content for it months after the AFD. Nyttend (talk) 20:14, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Virginia-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 17:15, 27 September 2013 (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.