Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Etna, Utah

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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. I find (as I often do) Uncle G's argument persuasive. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 22:21, 8 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Etna, Utah[edit]

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Etna, Utah (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log | edits since nomination)
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By and large the small town articles I've looked at thus far in Utah are downright paragons, but there are a some questionable ones. In this case the most I can determine was that there was a post office here, and that as a larger locale it covers a mining district. At the location, though, I find nothing. Mangoe (talk) 01:36, 4 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, ✗plicit 11:02, 11 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

  • I went through my usual methodology on this one. We need a source to tell us what this was, because "unincorporated community" is Wikipedia's information-free cop-out from the GNIS's "populated place". Lippincott's gazetteer has nothing. The relevant Arcadia Publishing was Topping & Ferguson 2009 which also had nothing. Finally I found Van Cott 1990, p. 131 which puts the lie to "is an unincorporated community". What it was, and is not now, was a post-office that postmaster Charlie Morris named after Etna Creek. And — lo! — there it is, in the 1930 United States Official Postal Guide. And the GNIS has it under "Etna Creek" as "stream". Yes, you may well find reservoirs and fishing on a creek.

    Checking the original 1937 History of Box Creek rather than the derivative 1996 one, the fact that this is a creek becomes glaringly evident. Yes, it was known as West Fork because that's actually a common U.S. name of a tributary of a creek before it gets its own name. Unfortunately for the "but school district!" argument, the name of the area is actually right there on page 297, immediately above the sentence talking about Etna Creek and the school. It says Grouse Creek, the creek that Etna Creek is a west fork of.

    • Topping, Gary; Ferguson, Melissa Coy (2009). Salt Lake City, 1890–1930. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738570747.
    • Van Cott, John W. (1990). "Etna". Utah Place Names: A Comprehensive Guide to the Origins of Geographic Names : a Compilation. University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874803457.
    • Walker Forsgren, Lydia (1937). "Grouse Creek". History of Box Elder County. Box Elder County Daughters of the Pioneers.
  • Uncle G (talk) 12:17, 11 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Modussiccandi (talk) 18:32, 19 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

  • Reviewing the sources we have:
  • The 1996 history gives clear coverage of a settlement but this is the only source produced that does. Without legal recognition for a GEOLAND#1 pass I would typically be looking for at least one more source, but the description of the 1996 history is clear enough that I'd be inclined to give the benefit of the doubt. The problem is that Uncle G's research cast doubt on this history as the 1937 history (which I don't have access to but they do) does not appear to describe the same thing. Without any actual significant reliable coverage I'm leaning delete on this one. For the avoidance of doubt post offices and schools are not automatically notable so simply showing that there was a post office or school (which can be located anywhere, including outside communities) does not make this notable. FOARP (talk) 19:04, 19 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    • My problem with the 1996 history is that having read the earlier stuff, it is quite clearly a conflation of all of the earlier stuff, that doesn't cite its sources. The more contemporary sources indicate that Grouse Creek was considered the overall area, with Etna Creek part of it, and Etna the "populated place" per the GNIS was in fact the Etna post-office, which is a building and makes something a "populated place". (GNIS phase 1 didn't really use the "post office" feature class, because the methodology didn't involve consulting the sort of things that would say exactly what the place was. Phase 1 was all about indexing the maps. If at least one building was there, it was "populated place".) Uncle G (talk) 20:06, 19 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Relisting comment: Uncle G is usually right about everything and it warms my heart to see them active again but I honestly can’t work out if they want to keep or delete this page, so a further relist for them to clarify their vote or others to chime in will definitely provide more chance of consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Spartaz Humbug! 22:17, 1 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

  • I appreciate the sentiment, but I also appreciate others double-checking the research. ☺ Uncle G (talk) 00:03, 2 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Delete not a populated place. No sign of notability under GNG or any applicable SNG. Eggishorn (talk) (contrib) 23:38, 2 March 2022 (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.
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