Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/McCoon Crossing, New York


 * 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. czar 05:05, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

McCoon Crossing, New York

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Topos show this was a railroad crossing, not a hamlet, and even if so, the single residence at the former railroad crossing is not automatically notable. Unclear what the purpose of the source added is supposed to be: it merely mentions a "Martin McKoon" among a list of about 100 people who lived around Columbia, New York in 1810, not anything about this locale. Notability not established with substantive sources. Reywas92Talk 00:57, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Geography-related deletion discussions. Reywas92Talk 00:57, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of New York-related deletion discussions. Reywas92Talk 00:57, 15 December 2020 (UTC)


 * delete The oldest topos don't name the place, and those that do show no buildings at the spot. Aerials don't show a building until the late 1990s or possibly even later. Seems pretty clear that it was at most a flag stop at a road crossing. Mangoe (talk) 01:17, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * keep the US Governments website,, lists it as a populated place, which is defined by them as "Place or area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population (city, settlement, town, village). A populated place is usually not incorporated and by definition has no legal boundaries. However, a populated place may have a corresponding "civil" record, the legal boundaries of which may or may not coincide with the perceived populated place. Distinct from Census and Civil classes." Nearby Ilion, New York, West Winfield, New York etc... are each also populated place. If it was just a railroad crossing as you suggest, they would list it as an "Area" or a "locale". Also just because the word "crossing" is in the name doesnt mean thats all it is, just like Grand Junction, Colorado is a city not just a junction.– So I see no reason to delete this.420Traveler (talk) 06:39, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Please see WP:GNIS: there are lots of mistakes in the GNIS's classifications, for example these industrial railroad spurs supposedly a populate place. The database entry cites the topological maps, which I linked above, clearly labeling a railroad crossing at the bottom center where the tracks cross McKoons Road (from GMaps). The line you wrote "The hamlet was formerly served by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad." doesn't make sense: the railroad ran through this locale, but it didn't stop there so it wasn't exactly "served". Millers Mills Crossing, New York and Youngs Crossing, New York are among others that are likely not notable places. Reywas92Talk 06:59, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Delete the GNIS is not a reliable source for whether something is a populated place, and it has numerous mistakes (see WP:GNIS). I can't see any other evidence that this exists (or existed) as a settlement.  Hut 8.5  19:20, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , Do what you think needs to be done it doesn't matter to me in this case. It should be noted though, that you each would rather do so much research to find reasons to delete than trying to research information to improve the article. 420Traveler (talk) 01:43, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm confused what you think would improve the article: Its content is false. And even if it wasn't, WP:GEOLAND2 says non-legally recognized place names need significant coverage about them. Should we have an article that says "The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad crossed McKoons Road. There were homes in the vicinity of the crossing." or what exactly? You mass-created scores of these one-sentence "articles" using only the GNIS without ensuring the content was accurate or notable. The WP:BURDEN was on you, not us. Reywas92Talk 02:13, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * And here's the New York gazetteer that more appropriately identifies this as a locale; would be good to cross-check other articles against this (e.g. Millers Mills Crossing is also a locale but Millers Mills is a populated place). Doing more research, in 1908 the International Brotherhood of Steam Shovel and Dredge Men got a contract to "build a large dam at McCoon's Crossing on the Lackawanna" but that's not exactly encyclopedia material. Reywas92Talk 02:23, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I did try to improve the article. I spent some time looking for good evidence that the subject actually existed. If I found any then I would have added it to the article and supported keeping it, but I didn't. However as it stands this article is actively misleading the reader by telling them something exists when we have no good reason to think it does (or did).  Hut 8.5  08:13, 16 December 2020 (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.