The relationship between municipalities and populated places in the United States is often not obvious, especially in New England due to the naming of their local governments. Naming them towns has blurred the distinction of populated places and municipal governments, when in reality, a clear distinction can be made between the two.

First, let’s look at the things almost everyone should agree with. Nodes tagged with a “place” tag can be referred to as “populated places”, or named concentrations of people. The GNIS definition of a populated place says it best: “Place or area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population (city, settlement, town, village). A populated place is usually not incorporated and by definition has no legal boundaries. However, a populated place may [correspond with a] “civil” [entity], the legal boundaries of which may or may not coincide with the perceived populated place. Distinct from Census [places] and Civil [entities].” In other words, nodes with a place tag refer to a human settlement, NOT to a municipality. They are the places one might see on a green direction sign while on the road. The exception to this is if the municipal boundary corresponds to the extent of the populated place, which is the norm in most states.

However, in New England, town boundaries are usually formed out of straight lines and rivers, not with the intention of delineating the boundary of a populated place. Therefore, even if a town shares a name with a populated place within its borders, the populated place will not always fill the entire municipality, leaving room for other populated places to fill the rural areas. Some municipalities even lack a populated place with the same name as it. This leads to there being no 1:1 correspondence between municipalities and populated places in New England.

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