NEW TNMCorps Mapping Challenge for City / Town Halls in WI!

The United States Census Bureau lists over 600 incorporated places in Wisconsin. Not every one of these will have a city hall, but as you can see from the map, there are still some points that have yet to be collected. 

Townships are also prominent in Wisconsin and may have a designated town hall building depending on their size.

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

What does each point color mean?   

These colors are part of our tiered editing process and signal to other editors that a point has passed through the upper tiers and does not need to be edited again. Our November 2018 newsletter has an article titled Editor Roles and Point Colors that describes this process further.

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

Tips and tricks for this challenge:  

Local Government: Incorporated vs. Unincorporated 

1. Incorporated places in Wisconsin consist of cities and villages. Townships also exist throughout the state, though they are unincorporated and may not always have a designated building.   
2. See the Cities vs. Towns vs. Villages article in our September 2019 newsletter for more information on the different types of governing bodies. 
3. The League of Wisconsin Municipalities also describes the different types of governing bodies in its Citizens Guide to Wisconsin Municipalities publication.  

Possible Sources 

1. Remember to confirm each entry in a list with an authoritative source (e.g., the city or village’s website) before using it to update the map.   
   • See the How to Spot an Authoritative (Re)Source article in our November 2017 newsletter for why this is important.   
2. The United States Census Bureau has downloadable lists of all the incorporated places in each state by population. 
   • Here is the list for Wisconsin.    
3. The League of Wisconsin Municipalities maintains an annual directory of members along with addresses and websites. 
4. Wikipedia has lists of cities, villages, and towns in Wisconsin. 
5. Smaller communities may also use Facebook or other social media platforms for their virtual communications. See the newsletter article titled Social Media as an Authoritative Source (July 2020) for tips on when it is acceptable to use social media to update points.  

Proper Point Placement 

Our November 2018 newsletter includes an article on aerial interpretation for city/town hall structures. This article walks you through how to identify which building to place a point on when examining aerial imagery. 

Interested in collecting city/town halls elsewhere? 

We’re collecting city/town halls nationally, so feel free to research these features throughout the U.S.  Other states that still need to have city halls collected include Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Texas.  Note that only city/town halls in Wisconsin will count towards this challenge.   

If you have any questions during the mapping process, reach out to us at nationalmapcorps@usgs.gov and we’ll be happy to assist!  Thank you for all that you do, and happy mapping!