Talk:Dinsmore, California

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Norcalal 16:11, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

I stumbled across this Dinsmore/Dinsmores issue. I know nothing about either and little about the region, but something about GNIS and geography. I did a little research out of curiosity (like others I've noted errors in GNIS and am interesting in the topic). As others already know, GNIS lists U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dinsmore and U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dinsmores, both in Humboldt County, CA. The variant name "Dinsmores" is given for Dinsmore but no variants are given for Dinsmores. One of the places where errors tend to crop up in the GNIS database is when placenames are very similar, especially when a variant name is identical to another place. This made me suspicious. The entry for Dinsmore includes information about the location ("On the north bank of the Van Duzen River ...[etc]") and includes PLSS info (which makes me think it likely the site at least had a plat officially filed once upon a time) Its coordinates place it right next to U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dinsmore Airport (whose GNIS page says "located 1 mi E from Dinsmore"). A quick look at "GNIS in Google Map", topo view (zoomed in!), shows the airport labeled "Dinsmores-Humboldt County Airport". The topo map also shows the "village" of Dinsmore has having three or four short roads and perhaps 20 structures. However, as with the GNIS database, USGS topo maps are often sadly out of date and not always to be trusted. Still, the GNIS PLSS info, the airport, and the structures shown on the topo map give me some confidence that Dinsmore is, or was, a small settlement of some kind (whether it is still is another question).

The other place, "Dinsmores", has no extra info in GNIS. A look at it in "GNIS in Google Map", topo view, does show a Dinsmores at that location, near the source of Twin Lakes Creek, with two structures at the end of a short unimproved road connected to another much longer unimproved road. That both places are labeled on USGS topo maps doesn't mean a lot--after all the GNIS database is used in making USGS topo maps. The roads and structures shown for the Van Duzen Dinsmore give me some confidence there is or was a settlement there. The two structures shown for the extremely remote mountain Dinsmores gives me less confidence--but perhaps this was a small prospecting camp, lumber camp, or something similar. GNIS calls it a "populated place", but that term is used in GNIS for lots of things that are actually uninhabited today, such as ghost towns.

A web search (restricted to .gov sites) turned up a few sources for the Van Duzen Dinsmore. Van Duzen Overview mentions Dinsmore as if people currently live there: "The small towns of Hydesville, Carlotta, Bridgeville, and Dinsmore provide services for rural, mountain community residents dispersed throughout the basin." Van Duzen Watershed Overview, EPA says something similar: "State Highway 36 is the major transportation corridor, passing through the towns of Hydesville, Carlotta, Bridgeville and Dinsmore." And, "The primary community centers in the basin include: Hydesville, Carlottta, Bridgeville and Dinsmore." This report does not mention the town directly, but does say, "Fifteen groundwater basins have been identified [in the Eel River Hydrologic Unit]", giving their names, one of which they call "Dinsmore Town Area". The "town area" caught my eye.

Finally, Durham's books Durham's Place Names of the California North Coast and California's Geographic Names both mention both places (the text is identical). Durham describes the Van Duzen Dinsmore as a "village" and the mountain Dinsmores as a "locality". From his wording I think he got his info mainly from GNIS. I sometimes have trouble linking to Google Books, but perhaps these will work: Durham's Place Names of the California North Coast, p 88, and California's Geographic Names.

Anyway, as I said I am not personally familiar with this area. But my bit of research makes me think Dinsmore, on the Van Duzen, makes the verifiability cut for Wikipedia (just barely, unless there are more sources--something with some history would be nice), while the Dinsmores in the mountains does not. The already questionable GNIS entry is contradicted by the Durham books, which call it a locality instead of a village. Gotta run, sorry for any typos! Pfly (talk) 16:50, 8 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What is interesting about all this discussion is this: The settlement of Dinsmore (in the singular form) is alive and well. I have been in the old hotel and the store there is a busy place. Surely it was a stage stop and notability is not a question. Following Pfly's mention above of Durham's Place Names of the California North Coast, p 88, and California's Geographic Names, I looked at the text and can share that these names often come from a designation on a survey map related to who (usually which family) likely owned the section of land. I am not at liberty to research this further at this point, but all the above information is helpful in sorting through the GNIS article proliferation. "Dinsmores" likely needs to be deleted. How shall that process/discussion formally commence? Norcalal (talk). 19:35, 18 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

i am a dinsmore resident here to clear up all the questions about dismore. It was named after the family that owned the land the dinsmores, its in humboldt county and is meca center for northern californias medical pot industry — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.149.96.75 (talk) 15:50, 13 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

i am also a dinsmore resident and it is the ugliest place i have ever seen. there is nothing there but tweakers and stoners. there is literaly nothing there. the biggest thing there is, is a junk yard wich you can acually live in. i hate living there. there is no grass and it is just dirty everywere. all of the houses are nasty dirty and full of mold and rats.the people are also dirty and gross. the only fast food is in near by mad river and its food sold out of a trailor and everyone that works there is a snobbby brat with bad costomer service. i would never recomend anyone to EVER live there you WILL end up deppresed if you stay there to long and have to deal with the people there — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.149.96.75 (talk) 15:57, 13 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]