Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Borders

  • Quantico: the Ultimate Gated Community

    Imagine a community ringed by an impenetrable perimeter, a compact neighborhood patrolled vigorously around the clock by highly-trained armed guards, motivated by mission and granted the full authority to challenge intruders with lethal force if necessary. The privacy afforded by this level of security could only be the exclusive domain of the ultra-rich and privileged,…

  • Shirts Around the World

    This odd geography fixation of mine is nothing new. It’s been pretty much a lifelong commitment. I was leafing through a photo shoebox a few days ago and I stumbled across a faded envelope that I hadn’t given much thought to in several years. It contained an interesting collection of photos from the early 1990’s…

  • Colorado is NOT a Rectangle

    Take a look at Colorado. Go ahead, stare at it for awhile. How would you describe its shape? Here’s the question: (a) It’s a rectangle. (b) It’s not a Rectangle I’ve already given you the answer and it’s not a trick question so there’s no way you can earn anything less than an A+ on…

  • Bad Signs

    I spent most of the day preparing my Federal income taxes so I’m not in much of a mood to think of anything profound. I swear the tax code gets more complicated every year. My brain has nothing left to give. Come back in a couple of days and I promise I’ll have a topic…

  • State of Franklin

    The State of Franklin never existed, at least not officially, but it came amazingly close. Its territory extended across a swath of northeastern Tennessee and its borderlands along western North Carolina. The United States got off to a rocky start with burdensome debts remaining from the Revolutionary War and a weak central government formed under…

  • (West) Wendover: What Time? What State?

    It’s my lucky day. I found both a time zone anomaly and a (potential) border anomaly all wrapped up into one neat little package. Even more exciting, if the border does change then the two anomalies will occur in opposite directions! Those of you who have spent any time on the Twelve Mile Circle realize…

  • USA Time Zone Anomalies, Part II

    I outlined a couple of odd time zone anomalies within the United States in Part I. So here I continue the effort with several more examples. While none of these are quite as extreme as the Idaho instance discussed in the last installment — although one comes pretty close — they all represent places where…

  • USA Time Zone Anomalies, Part I

    Matthew of the prullmw blog[1] is a regular reader and commentator on the Twelve Mile Circle. Recently he wondered whether I might have an interest in time zone boundaries. Indeed I do! Hopi and Navajo Anomalies I mentioned the whole Arizona, Navajo, Hopi complexity in my response, but I’d been unable to find a decent…

  • What Happened to the Handle?

    I spend a lot of my free-time reading, researching and writing online. Nonetheless, I freely admit to one guilty pleasure: I enjoy curling up with a daily newspaper at the end of each day. There’s something about the feel of paper, the ease of use, and the depth of coverage that makes me happy. The…

  • Bibb-Monroe Border War in Georgia

    I don’t know what’s going on in the minds of the citizenry of the State of Georgia. They just don’t seem comfortable within their borders lately. They’ve been tugging, pulling, cinching and stretching their ill-fitting suit, maybe hoping to address some ancient wrongs or remove old annoyances. Certainly, plenty of opportunities exist. They’ve had the…