-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Townships as "non-local" entities Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2007 17:26:45 GMT From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Hmmm....not exactly... Everywhere in the USA belongs to exactly one Minor Civil Division. If I am following this thread correctly, then the northern part of the City of Mason, MI belongs to Alaiedon Township, while the southern part belongs to Vevay Township. If you were to put MCD's in a GIS and do a query for a point within the city of Mason, it would return "City of Mason" and that's all. There's another layer called "Census Designated Places/Incorporated Places" that is not wall-to-wall. For the cities of Michigan, CDP appears identical to MCD, but then take a look at the city of Williamston. At first glance, it would appear to be partially in Williamston Township, and partially in Wheatfield Township. But there are a couple of polygons that are specifically labeled "Williamston Township" south of certain fingers of the city. But if you draw a horizontal line connecting these polygons, you cross a finger of Wheatfield Township, but there is no boundary. My conclusion: if you live in Williamston city, you better just know what township you live in, because TIGER won't tell you. Joe McCollum FIA Knoxvile, TN