Arizona Gazetteers

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The FamilySearch moderator for Arizona is James Tanner.

United States

U.S. Gazetteers

Arizona

Gazetteers

Online Gazetteers

• FamilySearch Places
• Arizona Business Directory and Gazetteer Arizona Business Directory and Gazetteer, San Francisco, Cal. : W.C. Disturnell 1881
• Arizona State Business Directory Arizona State Business Directory, Denver, Colo. : The Gazetteer Pub. Co. 1922
• The National gazetteer of the United States of America. Arizona 1986 U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, The National gazetteer of the United States of America, Arizona 1986, [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. G.P.O. ; 1987
• Digital Arizona Library

Print Only Gazetteers

• Will C. Barnes' Arizona place names William Croft Barnes, Will C. Barnes' Arizona Place Names. Revised and enlarged by Byrd H. Granger. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1982
• Historical Atlas of Arizona Henry P. Walker and Don Bufkin, Historical Atlas of Arizona. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979
• Ghost Towns of Arizona James E. and Barbara H. Sherman, Ghost Towns of Arizona. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969
• Arizona Atlas and Gazetteer DeLorme Mapping Company, Arizona Atlas and Gazetteer, Freeport, Maine : DeLorme, c1993
• The National Gazetteer of the United States of America--Arizona United States Geological Survey and Board on Geographic Names. The National Gazetteer of the United States of America--Arizona, [Washington, D.C.] : United States. Government Printing Office, 1987
• Polk's Arizona and New Mexico pictorial state gazetteer and business directory Polk's Arizona and New Mexico Pictorial State Gazetteer and Business Directory, Saint Paul, Minnesota : R.L. Polk & Co., ©1912-13

Why Use Gazetteers

A gazetteer is a dictionary of place-names. Gazetteers list or describe towns and villages, parishes, states, populations, rivers and mountains, and other geographical features. They usually include only the names of places that existed at the time the gazetteer was published. Within a specific geographical area, the place-names are listed in alphabetical order, similar to a dictionary. You can use a gazetteer to locate the places where your family lived and to determine the civil and religious jurisdictions over those places.

There are many places within a state with similar or identical place-names. You will need to use a gazetteer to identify the specific town where your ancestor lived, the state the town was or is in, and the jurisdictions where records about the person was kept.

Gazetteer Contents

Gazetteers may also provide additional information about towns, such as:

• Different religious denominations
• Schools, colleges, and universities
• Major manufacturers, canals, docks, and railroad stations
• The population size.
• Boundaries of civil jurisdiction.
• Ecclesiastical jurisdiction(s)
• Longitude and latitude.
• Distances and direction from other from cities.
• Schools, colleges, and universities.
• Denominations and number of churches.
• Historical and biographical information on some individuals (usually high-ranking or famous individuals)