Template:Did you know nominations/James Thompson (surveyor)

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Yoninah (talk) 18:08, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

James Thompson (surveyor)

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Copy of Thompson plat of Chicago

... that James Thompson, who made the first plat of Chicago (copy of plat pictured), declined an offer of land in Chicago in favor of $300? Source: "He turned down the canal commission’s compensation offer of several acres of property in the newly-platted town, preferring instead to take $300 for his work."[1]

Reviewed: William S. Hillyer, ~~in progress~~ done

Created by John M Wolfson (talk). Self-nominated at 23:00, 18 January 2020 (UTC).

New enough and long enough. QPQ present, in progress. Image is in public domain. Article is interesting, as is the hook which is backed up by the source, and the source appears in the article. It's a little shorter than I'd like to see it, maybe, but it meets the rules. Raymie (t • c) 18:19, 19 January 2020 (UTC)

Nominator comment I apologize if this is improper of me to ask, but when this gets promoted to a queue could the image provided be the image in the queue? I think showing the plat alongside the surveyor would further the historical significance. Thanks! – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 07:31, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

@John M Wolfson: it's not an improper question, and we see that you did nominate the image together with the hook. But the image is so light as to be unreadable at thumbnail size. Yoninah (talk) 23:07, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

That's unfortunate, but I understand what you're saying. Perhaps it'll be better suited as the POTD. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 23:08, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

@John M Wolfson: will the POTD be anytime soon? I'd like to promote this for DYK, but there's one fact at the end of the article that needs a citation. Yoninah (talk) 23:24, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

I was planning on it being on August 4 for the anniversary, but that's pending an FPC. I thought the article had already been promoted, but I'll get that citation to you shortly. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 23:48, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

Thank you. You mean August 4, 2020, right? Then it shouldn't be a problem for me to promote the hook now. Yoninah (talk) 23:50, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

Yes, and I have cited the statement in question. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 23:58, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
@Yoninah: apologies if this is pushy, but I have cited the statement in question. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 00:19, 31 January 2020 (UTC)

@John M Wolfson: It's hard to see the connection between Thompson and Block 37 in this source. And what's your rush? I completed the prep set I was working on, so this will be promoted at a later time. Yoninah (talk) 00:32, 31 January 2020 (UTC)

The site says that Block 37 takes its iconic name from one of the original fifty-eight city blocks established in 1830., which refers to Thompson's plat as that is when the 58 blocks were established. Perhaps it's not particularly important to Thompson himself, but it does describe the impact of his plat. And I apologize if I came as rushed, I had received the impression from our conversation that promotion would be imminent. Thank you! – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 00:38, 31 January 2020 (UTC)

Is it possible to include the number of plats in your article (2nd paragraph under Career)? That would make a clearer connection between the source, which doesn't mention Thompson, and the number of streets Thompson planned. Yoninah (talk) 14:13, 31 January 2020 (UTC)

I cited more data on the plat; other than Block 37 I wasn't able to find a secondary source that expressly said that 58 blocks were platted, but hopefully that should be apparent from the plat itself. (The other data is said by the Encyclopedia in the caption). – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 22:12, 31 January 2020 (UTC)

Thank you. Yes, it's clear from the map (which isn't so clear) and the map in the Randolph Society source (which is super clear) that there are 58 blocks. Restoring tick per Raymie's review. Yoninah (talk) 18:03, 1 February 2020 (UTC)