# US Places, Then (pypi · us-places-mcp)

US places then: county on a date, PLSS land, GNIS names, old topo maps, post offices.

- Trust score: 79/100 (medium)
- Change this week: +44
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-10-18

## Components

- pypi · `us-places-mcp`: 79/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/ianderso-us-places-mcp/us-places-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/ianderso-us-places-mcp/us-places-mcp)

## Channel facts

- Registry: `pypi`
- Package: `us-places-mcp`
- Version: `0.2.0`
- Transport: `stdio`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically from public evidence about the published package, including repeated runs of it in an isolated sandbox, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-10-18.

- **Supply Chain Security**: 100/100
  - No malware found by supply-chain analysis.
  - No known CVEs affecting this package version or its production dependencies.
  - Runs hatchling.build at install time, a recognised build step with no custom scripting around it.
  - 1 of 32 dependencies flagged as unhealthy.
- **Provenance & Transparency**: 100/100
  - Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL.
  - Cryptographically verified build provenance (signed, bound to ianderso/us-places-mcp).
  - Clear OSI-approved license (MIT).
  - Actively maintained (last published 11 days ago).
  - Publishes a security disclosure policy (SECURITY.md).
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 63/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 2570 tokens (~214/item across 12 items; 12 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 0/100
  - Stability not yet verified: not enough scan history yet (needs a 30-day window).
- **Tool Coverage**: 100/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 100% of tool parameters carry a description.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 12 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 13 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a current MCP spec version (2026-07-28).

**Unverified: 1 category.** A category scored 0 because we could not verify it: a data source with nothing on this package, evidence we could not reach, or a check we could not run. We only credit what we can confirm.

## Install

### How do I install the US Places, Then MCP server?

US Places, Then runs locally as a PyPI package, launched with uvx us-places-mcp. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add ianderso-us-places-mcp -- uvx us-places-mcp
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ianderso-us-places-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "us-places-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "ianderso-us-places-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "us-places-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```bash
codex mcp add ianderso-us-places-mcp -- uvx us-places-mcp
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "ianderso-us-places-mcp": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "uvx",
        "us-places-mcp"
      ],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add ianderso-us-places-mcp --command uvx --arg us-places-mcp
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  ianderso-us-places-mcp:
    command: "uvx"
    args: ["us-places-mcp"]
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "ianderso-us-places-mcp": {
      "Transport": "stdio",
      "Command": "uvx",
      "Arguments": [
        "us-places-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add ianderso-us-places-mcp -t stdio -c uvx -a us-places-mcp
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ianderso-us-places-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "us-places-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-10-17 (score 79, +15)

- [security improvement] Malware scan: unverified → pass

### 2026-10-16 (score 64, −15)

- [security regression] Malware scan: pass → unverified

### 2026-10-15 (score 79, +29)

- [security improvement] Injection markers: unverified → pass
- [security] First check of Judged manipulation: pass
- [security] Stability: Stability not yet verified: not enough scan history yet (needs a 30-day window).
- [functional improvement] Tool coverage: unverified → 100
- [functional improvement] MCP protocol: unverified → pass
- [functional] First check of Schema quality: fail
- [functional] First check of Destructive annotations: pass
- [functional] First check of Schema quality: fail
- [functional] First check of Schema quality: good
- [functional] First check of Tool coverage: 100

### 2026-10-13 (score 50, +15)

- [security improvement] Malware scan: unverified → pass

### 2026-10-08 (score 35)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (12)

### `county_at` (~247 tokens)

Which county held a point on a date, with the act that made it so.

Records were made by the county that held the place THEN: a 1795 deed for a
farm now in Greene County, Pa., is in Washington County's books. Returns the
holder(s), the full chain of counties for the point, and changes within a
year of the date (`boundary_change_within_a_year`: check those by hand). A
non-county area "attached to" a county was administered, and recorded, by
that county. "contested" means two governments claimed the spot. The atlas
ends in 2000 and holds no towns or townships. It says where the courthouse
was, not where anyone lived.

Input parameters:

- `date` (string, required): The date of the event: YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD. A year or month returns every county that held the point during it.
- `latitude` (number, required): Latitude in decimal degrees, e.g. 39.896.
- `longitude` (number, required): Longitude in decimal degrees; negative in the US.
- `refresh` (boolean): True asks the service again instead of using the cache.

### `county_history` (~156 tokens)

Every version of one county: when it was created, from what, and each change.

Each version carries its dates, the event ("GREENE created from
WASHINGTON."), and the statute. The atlas files counties under their modern
state. Use county_at for a particular place: a county's history does not
say which version held a given farm.

Input parameters:

- `county` (string, required): The county's name, e.g. 'Greene' or 'Greene County'.
- `refresh` (boolean): True asks the service again instead of using the cache.
- `state` (string, required): The state whose atlas file holds it: today's state, e.g. 'WV' for a county Virginia created in what is now West Virginia.

### `parse_legal_description` (~223 tokens)

Read a Public Land Survey description into its parts. Makes no network call.

Handles GLO's padded 0840N/0390W, T84N R39W, E½NE / E2NE / "E 1/2 NE 1/4",
words ("east half of the northeast quarter"), lots, and several tracts.
Aliquots expand to quarter-quarters (E½NE -> NENE, SENE). A parse is a
reading of a reading: `raw` keeps the text, and `warnings` says what was
guessed (a bare section number, an inferred meridian). Pass a tract to
plss_locate to place it on the map.

Input parameters:

- `state` (string): The state, which lets a missing meridian be inferred.
- `text` (string, required): A land description as written, e.g. 'E½NE Sec. 18, T84N R39W, 5th P.M.' Several tracts may be separated by ';' or new lines.

### `plss_locate` (~221 tokens)

Place a federal land description on the map, using BLM's PLSS data.

Returns each tract's centroid and bounding box (lat/lon), BLM's ids, and
the precision reached (township, section, aliquot or lot). A tract is not a
house: a section's centre is up to half a mile from any point in it, and
BLM's modern survey data can differ from the original plat near correction
lines and water. To find the county that held it, pass the centroid and the
patent's date to county_at; a county today is not the county then.

Input parameters:

- `description` (string, required): The land description, e.g. 'E½NE Sec. 18, T84N R39W, 5th P.M.' The meridian may be left out where the state has only one.
- `refresh` (boolean): True asks the service again instead of using the cache.
- `state` (string, required): The state, as a two-letter code or a name.

### `plss_from_point` (~121 tokens)

Name the Public Land Survey tract at a point: township, range, section, quarter-quarter.

Use it to turn a map pin (a cemetery, a farmstead) into the description a
land patent or tract book would carry, then search the land records with
it. Finds nothing in states that were never federal public domain.

Input parameters:

- `latitude` (number, required): Latitude in decimal degrees.
- `longitude` (number, required): Longitude in decimal degrees; negative in the US.
- `refresh` (boolean): True asks the service again instead of using the cache.

### `public_land_state` (~137 tokens)

Was this state federal public domain, and if not, who granted its land? No network call.

In a state that was never federal land (the 13 colonies, ME, VT, KY, TN, WV,
TX, HI), a search for a federal patent finds nothing, and that nil says
nothing about the family: first title came from the colony or state, and
this says where those records are. Public-land states list their principal
meridians, and the special cases (Ohio's surveys, Spanish and French claims).

Input parameters:

- `state` (string, required): A state, as a two-letter code or a name.

### `find_land_entry_file` (~252 tokens)

From a land patent to the case file behind it: which file, where, and the search to run.

The patent proves a conveyance on its signature date; the case file holds the
application and, for a homestead, the proof of residence, witnesses and
citizenship. Signature date is not purchase or settlement date: the entry
came years earlier. For a military warrant the patentee may be an assignee,
and the veteran is in the warrant file. Returns arguments for
nara-catalog-mcp's search_records_advanced (this server cannot call it).

Input parameters:

- `authority` (string, required): The patent's Authority, as GLO gives it, e.g. 'May 20, 1862: Homestead EntryOriginal (12 Stat. 392)'.
- `certificate_number` (string): The final certificate or entry number on the patent.
- `land_office` (string): The land office, e.g. 'Lincoln'.
- `patentee` (string): The name on the patent, for a warrant search.
- `signature_date` (string): The patent's signature date, YYYY-MM-DD.
- `state` (string, required): The state of the land.

### `glo_links` (~172 tokens)

Build a link to BLM's General Land Office Records site for the user to open. No network call.

GLO free text matches ANY word and ranks the results, so add a state and a
category; there is no surname field. Links to the old site (before July
2026\) now land on the home page: cite a patent by its accession number,
document number, state and signature date, never by a link.

Input parameters:

- `document_category` (string): Restrict the search to one kind of document.
- `document_id` (string): Instead of a search, link one record by its GLO document id.
- `search_text` (string): Free text for a GLO search, usually a name and a place.
- `state` (string): Restrict the search to one state.

### `find_place_name` (~265 tokens)

Find a named place in USGS's GNIS: its point, class and county.

Searches the live GNIS and, given a state, its archive of August 2021, which
keeps the cemeteries, churches, schools, post offices, buildings and locales
GNIS dropped that year; `answered_by` says which answered. Names are modern
and official, not historical spellings: Mount not Mt., no apostrophes, and a
vanished place is often "X (historical)". The county is today's: pass the
point to county_at. A state's archive (up to 17 MB) downloads on first use, and
the result says so.

Input parameters:

- `county` (string): Today's county, e.g. 'Greene'.
- `feature_class` (string): A GNIS class, e.g. Cemetery, Church, School, Post Office, Locale, Populated Place, Civil, Stream.
- `name` (string, required): The name or part of it, e.g. 'Mount Hope Cemetery' or 'Hines Corners'.
- `refresh` (boolean): True asks the service again instead of using the cache.
- `state` (string): The state. Needed to search the 2021 archive.

### `historical_topo_maps` (~246 tokens)

Every USGS topographic map covering a point, 1884 on, oldest first, with links.

Each scan gives its date, scale and quadrangle, with GeoPDF, GeoTIFF and a
JPEG preview; `topoview` opens the same scans as JPEG or KMZ. A map's date is
its survey or edit date, not when the ground looked so: a reprint keeps it,
and several scans often share it. Names are as the surveyor heard them. At
1:62,500 and larger, maps show roads, churches, schools and cemeteries, often
houses; a house symbol names no one.

Input parameters:

- `latitude` (number, required): Latitude in decimal degrees.
- `longitude` (number, required): Longitude in decimal degrees; negative in the US.
- `refresh` (boolean): True asks the service again instead of using the cache.
- `scale`: Only maps at this scale, e.g. 62500 (1:62,500, 15-minute) or 24000.
- `year_from`: Only maps dated this year or later.
- `year_to`: Only maps dated this year or earlier.

### `post_offices` (~272 tokens)

US post offices 1639-2000 (Blevins & Helbock): which existed where, and when.

Years are establishment and discontinuance as Helbock compiled them: a
discontinuance can be a renaming or a change to a branch, an establishment a
new name, and closings under ten years are folded in (`continuous: false`).
Names changed: search old names too. Counties are today's, not the county
then: pass the point and year to county_at. Two offices in three have a
point, from a name match to GNIS; a point search misses the rest, a county
search does not. First use downloads the 31 MB dataset once, checked against
Dataverse's checksum.

Input parameters:

- `county` (string): Today's county, as Helbock recorded it. Needs the state.
- `latitude`: Latitude of a point to search around.
- `longitude`: Longitude of the point; negative in the US.
- `name` (string): Part of the office's name, e.g. 'Spring Lake'.
- `radius_km` (number): Radius around the point, 0.1 to 100 km.
- `state` (string): The state.
- `year`: Only offices open at some time this year.

### `cache_status` (~25 tokens)

Report this session's live calls, cache use and downloaded datasets. No network call.

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: Provenance, Install scripts, Dependencies. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/ianderso-us-places-mcp/us-places-mcp#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-10-18: 79
- 2026-10-17: 79
- 2026-10-16: 64
- 2026-10-15: 79
- 2026-10-14: 50
- 2026-10-13: 50
- 2026-10-12: 35
- 2026-10-08: 35

## Common questions

### What is the US Places, Then MCP server?

US Places, Then is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.ianderso/us-places-mcp. US places then: county on a date, PLSS land, GNIS names, old topo maps, post offices. This page covers its PyPI package (us-places-mcp).

### Is the US Places, Then MCP server safe to use?

US Places, Then scores 79 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. We found no known CVEs affecting it as of 18 October 2026. Its build provenance is signed and verified. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.

### What tools does the US Places, Then MCP server expose?

US Places, Then exposes 12 tools: county_at, county_history, parse_legal_description, plss_locate, plss_from_point, and 7 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 2,337 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Is the US Places, Then MCP server still maintained?

US Places, Then is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 18 October 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

### What licence is the US Places, Then MCP server under?

US Places, Then declares the MIT licence, which is OSI-approved. That covers the source only, and says nothing about the cost of any service it calls.

## Links

- PyPI project: https://pypi.org/project/us-places-mcp/
- Socket report: https://socket.dev/pypi/package/us-places-mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/ianderso/us-places-mcp
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/ianderso-us-places-mcp/us-places-mcp.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/ianderso-us-places-mcp/us-places-mcp.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/ianderso-us-places-mcp/us-places-mcp