Prior to 2011, before the formation of the Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names, two advisors served as the Tennessee State Geographic Names Authority:
Before 2009 - Jim Minton
2009 - 2011 - Gregory March
In 2011, the Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names was formed.
Previous Committee Chairs:
Gregory March (2011 - 2020)
Current Committee Chair:
Peter Lemiszki (2020 - present)
More information for Council of Geographic Names Authorities (CoGNA) State Geographic Names Authorities can be found here - https://cogna50usa.org/state-geographic-names-authorities
Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names
The Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names, formed in 2011, is one of 50 State Names Authorities in the United States and is a member of the Council of Geographic Names Authorities (COGNA). The Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names is a voluntary group of subject matter experts who act in an advisory role when naming of geographic features (new names for unnamed geographic features, name or spelling changes, or changes in application) within the state of Tennessee are proposed and under review by the United States Board on Geographic Names (USBGN). The USBGN has final approval authority for place naming for federal maps and products. Information such as online forms for domestic naming proposals, member directory, and links to the websites of several other state names authorities can be found at the USBGN website.
Please contact Peter Lemiszki, Chair, Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names, with any questions.
Jennifer Barnett Jennifer.Barnett@tn.gov
Allen Coggins cogginsanb@charter.net
Steve Cotham stevecotham.1@gmail.com
Jason Duke Jason_Duke@fws.gov
Zada Law Zada.Law@mtsu.edu
Peter Lemiszki (Chair) Peter.Lemiszki@tn.gov
Gregory March gmarch@utk.edu
Chris Meeks Chris.Meeks@tn.gov
Tiffany Momon tnmomon@sewanee.edu
Tammy Sellers Tammy.Sellers@tn.gov
Kurt Snider Kurt_Snider@fws.gov
David Starnes d.starnes.2288@gmail.com
Chuck Sutherland chuck.j.sutherland@tn.gov
Van West Carroll.West@mtsu.edu
Ronald Zurawski Zurawski@comcast.net
The Council of Geographic Names Authorities (COGNA) is an association of state and federal government agencies representing the official and recognized geographic names authorities in the United States who work to promote national standardization of the names of geographic features for official use throughout the country. Please visit the COGNA website for more information.
People interested in learning more about the USBGN and Domestic Names can go to the USBGN Domestic Names webpage.
To Propose a Domestic Naming:
The Domestic form has been replaced with a PDF version (below) that can be downloaded, completed, and returned by email to BGNEXEC@usgs.gov (or printed and mailed, although as long as we continue to telework full-time, access to the USGS mailroom is infrequent and mail will be delayed).
The U.S. Board also maintains the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which serves as the official database for geographic names for the federal government.
The current public-facing GNIS application (Domestic, Antarctica, and Topographic Cell searches) will be available until Monday, August 30. After August 30, the system will be unavailable until it's migrated to a new system - a free, open-source, relational database management system. The USGS has been busy for some time developing new tools and may be ready for a seamless transition, but it is more likely the public GNIS will be unavailable for a period of time after August 30.
