We are finding that www.findagrave.com lists community names, in many cases communities that no longer exist; do not have a post office and do not have their own zip code. Should these community names be used as the CITY name or should the CITY name match the zip code? |
Any time you encounter such cemeteries, it is perfectly acceptable to leave the address, city, and/or zip code fields blank. The only attributes absolutely required are name and state. If the information you've encountered on Find A Grave is out of date or is inconsistent with other authoritative sources, either leave that information out, or refer to an alternate authoritative source. As we've noted before, even sources we deem authoritative are subject to fallibility, so if you encounter contradicting information you'll have to do some additional sleuthing to verify an official name or address. However, you will often not be able to pin down a city or zip code for a cemetery. When in doubt, leave it out. With that said, to more directly address your question, we generally would accept either the community name listed on Find A Grave in the City field, or the city associated with the zip code in which the cemetery exists. Sometimes I'll try and track down the address of a nearby business, such as a gas station or church, and fill in the cemetery city and zip code with that information. But again, leaving those fields blank is perfectly fine, and in some cases, preferable. |