[Talk-us] dubious church node

[Mark Bradley]

> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2017 18:26:49 -0500
> From: "John F. Eldredge" <john at jfeldredge.com>
> To: OpenStreetMap Talk-US Mailing List <talk-us at openstreetmap.org>
> Subject: [Talk-us] dubious church node
> Message-ID: <dd0219c3-e934-da7a-29a6-71b2591f2ef1 at jfeldredge.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
> 
> OSM Item 356845407 is a node supposedly marking the location of a church named
> "Mill Creek Church", at coordinates 36.0972810, -86.7027754
> <http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/36.0972810/-86.7027754>. The node history
> shows two changesets making edits to the node, but no changeset for the creation of
> the node. It has these tags:
> 
> amenity
> 	place_of_worship
> <http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:amenity=place%20of%20worship?uselang=en-
> US>
> 
> ele <http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:ele?uselang=en-US> 	145
> gnis:county_id 	037
> gnis:created 	05/19/1980
> gnis:feature_id
> <http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:gnis:feature%20id?uselang=en-US>
> 	1306749
> gnis:state_id 	47
> name <http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:name?uselang=en-US> 	Mill
> Creek Church
> religion <http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:religion?uselang=en-US>
> 	christian
> <http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:religion=christian?uselang=en-US>
> 
> I became curious about this, as aerial photos in Google Earth do not show a church
> there. I drove to these coordinates, and determined that they are for a loading dock
> on the back of an industrial warehouse.
> There are no signs indicating that any congregation meets there; the warehouse
> appears to be in active commercial use. Should I remove this node? -- John F. Eldredge
> -- john at jfeldredge.com "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
> Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


In the course of my mapping in the American Midwest, I have come across several small country churches of GNIS origin that no longer exist.  Often there will be a nearby cemetery, but the church facility is gone.  I simply delete the node.  In one case I know of, the church building was converted into a home, so I remapped it accordingly.

Mark