Category: Cities/Towns
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Alabama Capitals
It took awhile for some new states admitted to the United States to settle down with a mature governance structure. Alabama fit that exact pattern. It had five capital cities in less than thirty years. Montgomery is the Alabama capital today (map). It has grown in size and stature to a couple hundred thousand residents…
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First Name, Surname Symmetry
I wondered recently about towns bearing someone’s first name combined with counties bearing the same person’s last name. This spark came after learning that Gail was the county seat of Borden County, Texas. Both honored Gail Borden, the condensed milk guy (and so much more). The only other instance of this first name – surname…
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Condensed Texas
I first came across Borden County, Texas in More Land than People, Part 2. It’s amongst the 63 out of 3,143 counties or equivalents where square mileage exceeds the number of its inhabitants. For Borden (map), that was 897.4 square miles for only 641 people recorded in the 2010 Decennial Census so there was plenty…
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No Water Necessary
The Henley Royal Regatta is perhaps the most famous boat race in the world. It takes takes place each year along a particularly straight segment of the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, England (map). This huge sporting event features world-class competition and serves as a primary attraction in the summer social season. The regatta revels in…
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Political Access
No less than the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) made an interesting claim. They called it “Other Interstate Trivia, but I considered it Gold. “All but five state capitals are served by the interstate highway system. Those that are not served are: Juneau, AK; Dover, DE; Jefferson City, MO; Carson City, NV;…
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Heterogram Place Names
It’s not only geography that makes a place unique. It can also be an unusual array of letters forming its name, for example what I featured awhile ago on Place Name Palindromes. I traveled down a several-hours tangent recently in search of heterogram place names. Those are words where each letter of the alphabet appears…
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What-le-What?
I ponder the intricacies of maps, just staring at various corners of the world for no particular reason. I think that’s fairly typical for much of the 12MC crowd although maybe not completely understood by the public at large. That’s their loss. How else would I find an odd conglomeration of LE towns in the…
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Bad Boys Revisited
Everybody sing along! “Bad boys, bad boys / Watcha gonna do / Watcha gonna do when they come for you?” That’s right, if I’m quoting lyrics from Inner Circle then I must be talking about the long-running television show COPS again. Apparently more 12MC readers are fans of COPS than I ever imagined when I…
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Would You Believe?
Have you ever dropped into Google Street View and found terrain that just didn’t “look right,” and differed from your expectations? I think we all have stereotypical preconceptions of how a place is supposed to appear, especially if we’ve never fully explore the area in person. Below is the image that surprised me a few…
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Springtime
We’re experiencing an unusually early springtime in the Mid-Atlantic, with temperatures more akin to May than March. I like warmer weather so that’s a wonderful development in my mind although my seasonal allergies tend to disagree. I’ve been able to hit the bike trails after work each evening aided by the switch to Daylight Saving…