Have You Heard of Locality Domains?

Imagine owning a domain like yourname.seattle.wa.us or myname.austin.tx.us — completely free. This isn't a scam; it's a legacy piece of US internet infrastructure dating back to 1992.

Fred Chan recently published a comprehensive guide on registering these locality domains, which quickly hit 540+ points on Hacker News.

What Is a Locality Domain?

A locality domain follows the name.city.state.us format and is tied to a specific US location. Created in 1992, the system has been maintained under government contract ever since. Registration is free, but you must be a US citizen, permanent resident, or have a bona fide presence in the US.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Choose your locality. Consult the delegated subdomain list to find the registrar for your city. If your city isn't listed, try gen.your-state.us.

Step 2: Get free nameservers. Amazon Lightsail is the only provider offering free nameservers for non-top-level domains. Create a DNS zone without purchasing hosting.

Step 3: Fill out the registration form. The "Interim .US Domain Template v2.0" asks for personal info and nameserver IP addresses (use dig to look them up).

Step 4: Send and wait. Email the completed form to your locality's registrar. Expect days to weeks of processing time.

Step 5: Configure DNS. Once registered, point DNS records to your web host, Minecraft server, or anything else.

Community Response

HN users shared practical experiences. One user noted that Boston's locality domain requires a notarized letter from the city government — and nobody in city hall knows the procedure. Another pointed out that localitymanagement.us now offers online registration for ~7,388 delegated domains, though it crashed under HN traffic.

Privacy warning: .us TLD forbids WHOIS privacy services, though locality domain WHOIS only shows registrar info, not personal addresses.

🔗 Source: fredchan.org/blog/locality-domains-guide
💬 HN Discussion: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48122635