Category: U.S. States
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Nation, State or County?
The sovereignty of Native American nations in the United States presents a complicated set of issues, wrapped in various viewpoints and interwoven with the past, present and future. However, this entry doesn’t discuss the historical or political situation, it points to current geography. Please excuse me as I sidestep the sensitivities while focusing on boundaries…
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What counts as a visit?
Every once in awhile this geo-oddity hobby of our gets some positive attention. The County Counting blog — one I follow regularly and include on my blogrole in the left column of this website — has a copy of a Boston Globe article that appeared recently. The article is called: “For those who keep a…
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An Extreme Definition of “Southern”
An acquaintance of mine and I once got into a friendly discussion about what should count as a “southern” state within the United States. I thought, well, the list should start at least with the eleven that formed the Confederate States of America at the onset of the Civil War. From there we could talk…
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Texas: Is Everything Really Bigger?
I’ve been to Texas many times. I have family there, I have business there, and I’ve driven across its width. I don’t underestimate its gargantuan size. There’s a reason why “Everything is Bigger in Texas” has become such an iconic boast that borders on cliché. If Texas were still a country as it was when…
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Lost Again
My initial article on Michigan’s Lost Peninsula was pretty lame. However, it was only the second time I’d ever posted on Twelve Mile Circle in its earliest days. Of course, anyone following this site for awhile knows it’s evolved greatly over time. Do-Over Now, thanks to loyal reader Jim C., I get a rare opportunity…
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Virginia Smoking Ban
A smoking ban in Virginia restaurants will begin in a few days, on December 1, 2009. Virginia does not allow standalone bars — an establishment must attribute a significant percentage of sales to food in order to maintain a liquor license — so the ban extends broadly and deeply across the state. It includes several…
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Counting Border Crossings
I’m a relentless counter. I count lighthouse, ferries, waterfalls, breweries and even nineteenth century coastal fortifications during my travels. I used to count states but it became pointless when I reached all fifty so I switched to counties. Last summer I hit my 1,000th county and I’ve continued onward from there. If it’s possible to…
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Weird Ohio Explorations
A number of regular Twelve Mile Circle readers track to IP addresses in Ohio. With that in mind I thought I’d throw something special their way, a Google Maps compilation that I recently stumbled across called “Weird Ohio Explorations.” I’ve had some fun poking around the waypoints the developer included on the map. You probably…
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Almost Neighbors
All the recent talk on Twelve Mile Circle about roads clipping little corners of territories got me thinking. What about the near misses? Those are the places where someone can NOT just barely add a new territory to the list simply by lucky happenstance. Imagine instances — and I’m focusing on U.S. states here —…
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Bridge in a Haystack
Random search engine queries caught in my user access logs often inspire articles on the Twelve Mile Circle. I found one earlier this week that went something like this: “only ky bridge that leaves one state, crosses a river, comes back into the same state.” That sounded like it could be an interesting adventure so…