Geonames vs US Places, Then
A side-by-side look at the Geonames and US Places, Then MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
U
US Places, ThenLocation Services · Local subprocess (stdio)US places then: county on a date, PLSS land, GNIS names, old topo maps, post offices.53GoodAuth: no auth requiredVerdict: choose Geonames for location services work as a local process; choose US Places, Then for location services as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Geonames when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Location Services domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_geonames, get_nearby, get_timezone.
UChoose US Places, Then when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Location Services domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
county_at, county_history, parse_legal_description.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | U US Places, Then | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Location Services | Location Services |
| Quality signal | 52/100 · Good | 53/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 4 | 12 |
| Full listing | View Geonames | View US Places, Then |
Tools & capabilities
Geonames tools 4
search_geonamesSearch for places (cities, towns, landmarks, regions) by name and get which STATE / PROVINCE / COUNTY / PREFECTURE / administrative division (German Bundesland, UK county, Canadian province, Japanese prefecture, Indian/Australian/Mexican state, etc.) they are in, plus country, coordinates, populati…get_nearbyFind places near a given latitude/longitude. Returns nearby cities, landmarks, and features sorted by distance. Example: get_nearby(48.8566, 2.3522) for places near Paris.get_timezoneGet timezone information for a latitude/longitude location. Returns timezone ID, GMT offset, DST offset, current local time, sunrise, and sunset. Example: get_timezone(40.7128, -74.0060) for New York.find_postal_codesLook up postal/ZIP codes and places by each other. Pass "postal_code" (+ country) to find the place(s) a code maps to ("what city is ZIP 90210"); or pass "place" (+ country) to find the postal codes for a place name ("postal codes for Paris"). Returns place name, country, admin region (state/county…
US Places, Then tools 12
county_atThe county (or counties) that held a point on a date: a day, a month or a year. Returns the holder, its dates, the event and statute that made it, the whole chain of counties for that spot, changes within a year (check those by hand), and whether two governments contested it.county_historyEvery version of one county: created when, from what, and each later change, with statutes.parse_legal_descriptionRead a land description, however it is written (`E½NE`, `E2NE`, `E 1/2 NE 1/4`, "the east half of the northeast quarter", GLO's padded `0840N`, lots, several tracts), into its parts, with quarter-quarters and warnings for anything guessed. Offline.plss_locatePlace a description on the map: centroid, bounding box, acreage and BLM's ids, to the township, section, quarter-quarter or lot.plss_from_pointName the survey tract at a point: township, range, section and quarter-quarter.public_land_stateWas this state federal land? If not, who granted first title and where those records are; if so, its meridians and special cases. Offline.find_place_nameA named place in GNIS: its point, class, state and county. Searches the live GNIS and, given a state, the archive of August 2021 that keeps the cemeteries, churches, schools, post offices and buildings GNIS dropped that year; says which answered.post_officesWhich US post offices existed, 1639-2000: by name, by state and today's county, or around a point, and in a given year. Each with its years, whether it ran continuously, and its point if it was geocoded.historical_topo_mapsEvery USGS topographic map covering a point, oldest first: date, scale and quadrangle, with GeoPDF, GeoTIFF and JPEG preview links, and a TopoView link for JPEG and KMZ.find_land_entry_fileFrom a patent's Authority: the kind of entry, what its file holds, which National Archives series has it, ready-made arguments for nara-catalog-mcp's `search_records_advanced`, and how to order the file if it is not online. Offline.glo_linksA link to a search, or to one record, on BLM's General Land Office Records site, for you to open. Offline.cache_statusThis session's live calls and cache hits, and the datasets downloaded so far. Offline.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Geonames
{
"mcpServers": {
"geonames": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-geonames"
]
}
}
}
US Places, Then
{
"mcpServers": {
"us-places-then": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"us-places-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Geonames is categorized under Location Services and uses a local stdio subprocess. US Places, Then belongs to Location Services and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Geonames for location services work and US Places, Then for location services.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Geonames has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. US Places, Then is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add geonames and us-places-then as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Geonames has a quality signal of 52/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. US Places, Then has 53/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.
