Miscellaneous Information

Although we found mention of Saint Joseph during our research, we have little information about it.<1> We believe that Saint Joseph had a post office at one time. We have done a cursory search and haven't been able to find any evidence that the community still exists..

Various Identification Codes ...

GNIS Codes ...

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) was created to address the problems caused by spelling and naming variations. The BGN will usually recognize an existing name or, when necessary, chose a name for a geographic feature (such as a mountain, lake, river, stream, city, town, village, dam, bridge, etc).

The BGN names are kept in a database called the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and it is the official Federal repository. The GNIS is operated and maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

A unique and permanent code has been assigned for each name in the GNIS database. These names and identifiers are definitive and it is intended that they are to be used by all departments of the Federal Government:

GNIS ID for Saint Joseph: 473344

GNIS ID for Cloud County: 484984

GNIS ID for Kansas: 481813

FIPS Codes ...

In a past effort, various federal agencies worked together to create a set of codes with a purpose similar to the GNIS codes. These codes are called the Federal Information Processing Standard (or the FIPS 55 codes). Although they are still used by some organizations, the FIPS codes are obsolete and will ultimately be replaced by the GNIS codes.

The following FIPS codes apply to Saint Joseph:

Place (Community) Code:	62325
State Code:	20 (Kansas)
County Code:	029 (Cloud County)

Since the Place and County FIPS codes are not unique and can be repeated in other States, it's necessary to combine the State code with the Place and County FIPS codes to uniquely identify them - for example:

State/Place Code:	20/62325
State/County Code:	20/029

As already mentioned, the FIPS codes are to be replaced by the GNIS codes. The following reflect those changes:

	FIPS Code	translates to	GNIS Code
State of Kansas:	20		481813
Cloud County:	20/029		484984
Saint Joseph:	20/62325		473344

GPS Location - GNIS Coordinates ...

An important aspect of the GNIS code is that it assigns a GPS location (the latitude/longitude) to the geographic feature. This location is simply a point on the map and does not represent the size or shape of the feature. In the case of Saint Joseph, it is a point within Saint Joseph that might be a post office, the city hall or simply an intersection - the point should really be considered arbitrary and only indicating a general location.

For Saint Joseph, the GNIS GPS location is given as:

Lat: 39° 30' 34" (or 39.51°)

Lon: -97° 24' 22" (or -97.41°)

Regional Codes ...

For statistical purposes, the US Census Bureau has divided the country into four Regions. Saint Joseph is located in Region #2 (the Midwest Region).

In turn, the US Census Bureau has further divided each Region into Divisions. Saint Joseph is located in Division #4 (the West North-Central Division).

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has created ten Federal Regions. Saint Joseph is located in Region VII (Region 7).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has created ten Management Regions. Saint Joseph is located in Region VII (Region 7).

Referenced GNIS Records ...

GNIS ID #473344 (Name of Record: Saint Joseph)

Class: populated place

A place or area having clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent population (such as a city, settlement, town or village). The boundaries may or may not coincide with the perceived population.

A 'populated place' record may have a corresponding 'census' or 'civil' record. The information contained in the 'populated place' record applies only to the class and should not be confused with either the 'census' and 'civil' classes.

County: Cloud

Map Name: Clyde

Lat: 39.5097201 Lon: -97.4061439

Elev: 419 ft.

Referenced FIPS Records ...

FIPS Code: 20/62325 (Place Name: St. Joseph)

County: Cloud (FIPS State/County: 20/029)

Class: U6

Identifies a populated place (ie- Saint Joseph) that is wholly or substantially located outside the boundaries of any incorporated place or CDP (Census Designated Place) that has an authoritative common name recognized by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/

The official website of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN)

The official website of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

The official website of the U.S. Census Bureau

The official website of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

The official website of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Footnotes ...

<1>

If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer. For example, we might find a sentence like "He went north past Saint Joseph and then turned west". While Saint Joseph could be some kind of landmark, we think that it's more likely to be a community. We've added Saint Joseph as a placeholder with the hope that we'll be able to add more information in the future.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Saint Joseph could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.

Just in case there has been confusion between counties, we found that there are two Kansas communities named Saint Joseph: This one is located in Cloud County and the other is located in Reno County. For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Saint Joseph.