Miscellaneous Information

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 number 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 Ruthledge Ford: 1315854

GNIS ID for Coffee County: 1639735

GNIS ID for Tennessee: 1325873

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 Ruthledge Ford:

Place (Community) Code:	65765
State Code:	47 (Tennessee)
County Code:	031 (Coffee 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:	47/65765
State/County Code:	47/031

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 Tennessee:	47		1325873
Coffee County:	47/031		1639735
Ruthledge Ford:	47/65765		1315854

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 Ruthledge Ford, it is a point within Ruthledge Ford 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 Ruthledge Ford, the GNIS GPS location is given as:

Lat: 35° 18' 22" (or 35.31°)

Lon: -85° 56' 35" (or -85.94°)

Regional Codes ...

For statistical purposes, the US Census Bureau has divided the country into four Regions. Ruthledge Ford is located in Region #3 (the South Region).

In turn, the US Census Bureau has further divided each Region into Divisions. Ruthledge Ford is located in Division #6 (the East South-Central Division).

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has created ten Federal Regions. Ruthledge Ford is located in Region IV (Region 4).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has created ten Management Regions. Ruthledge Ford is located in Region IV (Region 4).