Background
Over the course of their three hundred-year history, the Doukhobors have both influenced, and been influenced by, the culture and geography of the places where they have settled and lived. The Doukhobor Gazetteer presents a comprehensive record of the places of historic, cultural and religious significance to the Doukhobor people.
The Doukhobor Gazetteer provides access to place names, features and locations associated with the Doukhobors, past and present, across the world. It includes detailed information about populated places such as localities, settlements, schools, post offices, railway sidings, subdivisions, streets, farms, bridges, cemeteries and parks, as well as natural geographic features such as lakes, streams, springs, bays, islands, hills, mountains, caves, woods, rocks and valleys. It is the most complete and detailed database of Doukhobor geographic information ever compiled.
The purpose of the Doukhobor Gazetteer is to provide users with an accurate and definitive listing of Doukhobor geographical information for research and general enquiry purposes. The Doukhobor Gazetteer provides a simple search tool for obtaining useful information for each entry. Regular updates of new information and additional features ensure the user of data reliability and usability.
The Database
The Doukhobor Gazetteer is an online searchable database which contains information on over 1,500 places and features named by, for, or otherwise associated with the Doukhobors in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Canada and the United States.
Please keep in mind that only places and features associated with the Doukhobors are available in this database. Other world places and features are not included.
The content of the database is compiled from a wide range of published and unpublished sources in the English and Russian languages. See detailed references and acknowledgements regarding the source of the information contained in the database.
Every effort has been made to present the most recent, accurate and reliable information in this database. However, there may be occasions when information featured in the database may contain incomplete data or inaccuracies. Any errors are unintentional.
This database is a work in progress. Additional information, features and enhancements will be added to the database on an ongoing basis. If you have any information to add to The Doukhobor Gazetteer or suggestions for improvements, please contact: Jonathan J. Kalmakoff.
The Search Screen
The search screen allows you to search for places or features by name, alphabetically, type, or geographically by country, province and district.
Notes:
A name or partial name must be specified if you are searching by “all types”.
Specifying a partial name will result in all hits that begin with the partial name. For example, specifying the partial name “Go” will result in hits for “Goloff Creek”, “Goreloye”, “Good Spirit Lake Annex”, etc.
Choose “Include Common Misspellings” to search for common English spelling variants of Russian names. For example, the name “Kirilovka” is also searchable under the names “Kirilowka”, “Karalowka”, “Kereloka”, etc using this feature.
Searching alphabetically will result in all hits that begin with the specified letter. For example, specifying the letter “D” will result in hits for “Danshin Village”, “Devils Lake Colony”, “Druzhelyubaya Dolina”, etc.
Some places or features may have more than one name. This database is searchable by all known names of a place or feature. For example, the feature “Spencer Hill” is also searchable by its alternate names “Doukhobor Hill”, “Sion Hill” and “Sionskaya Gora”.
The jurisdictions of some places and features have changed over time. This database is searchable by all relevant jurisdictions. For example, the place “Goreloye” is searchable under “Tavria province, Russian Empire” as well as “Zaporiz’ka province, Ukraine”.
If one search method does not produce the desired results, try another method. For example, if a search by name or type does not result in a hit for the desired place or feature, try searching alphabetically or geographically.
Only places and features associated with the Doukhobors are available in this database. Other world places and features are not included.
When you have entered your search terms, click on “Begin Search”. The number of hits found will be shown at the top of the results screen.
How to Interpret the Results
Your search results will be posted as a summary list from which you will be able to obtain more detailed descriptions.
Search Results Summary List
Your search results will be posted as a summary list containing information that will allow you to rapidly assess how relevant the hits are that you found. The search results summary list contains the following fields:
Name of place or feature
Feature type
District (Locality, County, Rayon, Uezd)
Province (State or Oblast)
Country
The first column is linked to the detailed description (see below). Clicking on the link will bring you to the detailed description.
Detailed Description
From the search results summary list, you can consult one detailed description at a time. The detailed description includes all or some of the information described below.
the name of the place or feature
the Russian (Cyrillic) spelling of the name
any alternate names of the place or feature
the origin and meaning of the name(s)
the jurisdiction(s) of the place or feature, including district, province and country
the history of the place or feature, including the dates of establishment and abandonment
a summary of the Doukhobor association to the place or feature
the legal land description of the place or feature
the geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude) of the place or feature
