Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Fisk, Iowa

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 keep. Geschichte (talk) 10:21, 30 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Fisk, Iowa

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Another case of what looks to be another Iowa trend, I cannot find evidence that this is anything other than a rural post office where someone nearby raised Poland China hogs. Mangoe (talk) 02:26, 20 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Geography-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 07:36, 20 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Iowa-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 07:36, 20 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Delete Gilliam has created tens of thousands of non-notable places articles with limited GNIS-based sourcing. Citation [1] p. 148 says "In the summer of 1870 Fisk post office was established" which is NOT the same as a notable community, which you'd think "History of Adair County, Iowa, and its people" would probably have more coverage of than this passing mention if it were! Nor does it mean it "is" still a community! Reywas92^Talk 18:00, 20 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
- The actual subject there being Richland Township, Adair County, Iowa, where mention of its post office(s) should be. Uncle G (talk) 02:41, 21 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It's not in Hair's 1865 Iowa State Gazetteer, obviously. The 1895 Lippincott's tells us that this is "a post-hamlet of Adair co.". So not an "unincorporated community". And not a documented-in-depth post office from anything that I can find. Uncle G (talk) 02:41, 21 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. This one was pretty easy to source. It was noted in several historic books and maps, and not merely as a post office, but as a hamlet with a school, church, and several businesses (a creamery, two general stores). This community was at the center of Richland Township, being the only community in that 36 square mile area, and appears on the 1901 Rand McNally Map of Iowa and as late as the 1951 Plat Map of Adair County, so it's not a GNIS error or just a post office, as some editors have worried. It's now received several more sources which I think have established that this community, though small, was noted for over a half-century, and since notability is not temporary, this article should likely be kept. Firsfron of Ronchester 07:46, 23 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
- I see that you haven't been able to fix the "unincorporated community" to what it actually was, because Polk's doesn't say what it is (or mention school and church) and all of the rest of your sourcing is interpreting dots on maps rather than something that actually says that this is a hamlet with a school and a church. The very problem with the GNIS records are that they were interpreting dots on maps, sometimes incorrectly. You've shown that it's as easy to source this as inadequately as the GNIS did. Adequate sourcing is a bit more difficult, however, as it involves history books rather than historic books. The only history book that we have so far is Kilburn, that says "Fisk postoffice" on the page cited, not hamlet. Lippincott's says "post-hamlet" but doesn't say school or church. Your cited source for Fisk having a creamery actually says "Fisk PO" too and does not label the creamery or indeed any other dots as Fisk, or show an enclosing settlement of any sort. We literally do not have a source that connects these map dots, and clearly you are extending beyond what at least one of your map dot sources actually labels things. Uncle G (talk) 01:48, 24 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Is it your argument that "post-hamlet" doesn't mean a community, or that a post office can have a school, creamery, and church? I didn't need to interpret what the symbols mean because they tell you in the book. Firsfron of Ronchester 10:01, 24 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Keep, nice improvement by Firsfron. Just like what I just did with Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Poplar, Iowa, it is no shock that some number of these populated places stubs in rural America are notable if we take the time to look into them. Though rural America has largely fallen into decay in many places, not everyplace can be England where every footbridge has a legend of a troll from the 11th century or something. There is still history.--Milowent • ^hasspoken 17:11, 25 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Keep per Firsfron and Milowent. Also the town seems it isn't as much of a "ghost town" as the article makes it appear, since on Google Maps I see cars still parked at buildings. Dr. Universe (talk) 05:24, 27 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Sandstein 09:33, 27 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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.