The “Ask Dr. Map” web site has wowed the world of Cartography for the last three years. This repository of esoteric map ephemera (also known as “mapcrap” by aficionados) addresses everything from the definition of a “cartophilatelist” to the rumor that Waldo Tobler used to receive mail addressed to the latitude and longitude of his home. To quote its home page, this web site contains answers to questions about maps submitted to Dr. Map, the “anonymous” author of the column “Ask Dr. Map,” printed bi-monthly in the ACSM Bulletin, journal and newsletter of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. This site contains material that is copyrighted, but with the author’s permission this material can be used in other publications. For questions and queries, send e-mail to askdrmap@cox.net. Dr. Map has a Ph.D. and a cartographic license, and is not afraid to use the latter!
Sample Q & A:Dear Dr. Map, What are some of the strangest place names in the United States?
Dr. Map discussed toponymy in a recent column. Toponymy is the system of names by which places are known. There is an extraordinarily large number of named features in the United States. The names as they appear on United States Geological Survey maps are contained in a data base, the Geographic Names Information System. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names ), which dates back to 1890, is charged with naming and renaming features in the United States. The data base is a source of immense Inspiration (Arizona). Some, you just want to Jot ‘Em Down (Texas). What Cheer (Iowa) and Joy (Illinois, Ohio, W. Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, and more) there is in discussing the Ding Dong (Texas) world of Why (Arizona) placenames are so Peculiar (Missouri). Dr. Map could go on at length, but instead recommends a book by David Jouris entitled All over the Map: An Extraordinary Atlas of the United States (Ten Speed Press, 1994). So I finish with a few favorites: Bumble Bee, Arizona; Horseheads, New York; Experiment, Georgia; Hell, Michigan, and Nameless, Tennessee. Dr. Map also wonders what it would be like to receive a latitude-longitude postcard, bearing a stamp showing a map, postmarked Lost Nation (Iowa).
For more “irreverent, irrelevant cartography” see (before the cartographic license runs out).
