Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • The Largest Smallest US County (population)

    If the “Largest Smallest United States County” sounds fleetingly familiar, you are correct. I covered a variant of this a couple of years ago. Count yourself among the small group of 12MC devotees who have been following along and paying attention for quite awhile. Recently I was contacted by reader Ariel who wondered if I’d…

  • Highpoint Tripoint

    I was discussing highpoints with 12MC reader Michael from Atlanta recently. He mentioned the curious situation of North Carolina. Its highpoint is Mt. Mitchell. No dispute there. However, curiously the mountain summits that form highpoints for South Carolina (Sassafras Mountain) and Tennessee (Clingmans Dome) are also right along their respective borders with North Carolina. Thus,…

  • Mainland Manhattan

    I reexamined a map of New York County for an article in progress recently and it reminded me of its odd boundaries. Most people are either unaware of this county or confuse it with the much larger New York City. Or if they have a basic awareness of the geography they equate it to the…

  • It’s Electric

    I have multiple interests that occasionally bleed over the borders of Twelve Mile Circle where they happen to merge with geography. That often includes an historical context that strays into more personal history in the form of genealogy. I’ve spent a lot of my free time on genealogy lately as I prepare for the public…

  • Summit’s Summit

    The ever-reliable Anonymous Searcher provided inspiration once again today. I’m not sure how I’d write half of my articles if it wasn’t for the inspiration of random search engine queries that somehow land on Twelve Mile Circle. It’s my daily Google Love. What can I say? My unknown friends in the general public need to…

  • Split the Name Again

    In the first installment I discussed various Louisiana Parishes that shared the same root name, differing only by the addition of an east or a west directional prefix. I noted that sharing of county or county-equivalent names in this manner was surprisingly rare in the United States. The only other place where one sees this…

  • Split the Name

    United States counties don’t split frequently anymore. There was a time, however, when it happened regularly as populations spread from the east coast into the hinterlands. Typically, a territory or a state would begin with a handful of very large counties. State governments would then carve them into increasingly smaller units as population increased. Eventually…

  • Western Surname

    I have a small disconnect with the Twelve Mile Circle audience. I’m not much of a puzzle fan, and yet, my articles with challenges embedded within them often create the greatest amount of reader interest, page views and comments. But I’m also not beyond giving people what they want even though I profess to write…

  • All Lined Up

    Sometimes I feel like researching a topic and presenting it in exacting detail with supporting maps and illustrations. Other times I simply gaze at a map and draw a few lines. Today it’s about the lines. There’s nothing intellectual here, it’s more of a game. What is the maximum number of states I can cross…

  • State Centers of Population

    The concept of population centers fascinates me. In the United States the U.S. Census bureau defines the Mean Center of Population. “The point at which an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location…

Latest Comments

  1. The British flag continues to fly at Roche Harbor, a couple miles north of English Camp.

  3. Been there Once for a few years. In 76 &77. Ran cooperative store. Even though it was very isolated It…

  4. As an Alaskan I always wondered why Interstates were a big deal. From my point of view a road went…