Ask Mr. Answer Person: Why do Google Maps and the Dex phone book show two campgrounds in Decorah that don't exist?

John e-mails Mr. Answer Person: "On Google Maps and in the Dex phone book, the map for Decorah shows a 'Campsite Park' where the high school athletic fields are, and 'Siewers Spring State Park' at the state fish hatchery. What is the history of these parks, and why do they continue to show up on the maps (I assume they really did exist at one time)?"

Mr. Answer Person says: Your question is similar to one that led decorahnews.com to investigate why Mapquest lists "Thoten" and "Nasset" on its maps of Winneshiek County (http://www.decorahnews.com/archived-stories/2011/06/85.html)

Those communities no longer exist in Winneshiek County--and neither do campgrounds near the Decorah HS athletic fields and at Siewers Springs.

Your guess is correct, though--these campgrounds did exist at one time.  An old Nordic Fest program from 1967 lists both locations as possible campgrounds for Festgoers--although it describes the Siewer Springs campground as "unimproved" and the athletic field as for "overflow camping" only.  Both campgrounds disappeared entirely in the 1970s.

So why would Google and DEX have maps that show non-existent campgrounds?  Let's quote our earlier story on Thoten and Nasset: "One county official offered an intriguing possibility--that map makers sometimes add a community to their map to differentiate their map from other maps--thus protecting their copyright."