Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Back to the Lines

    My fascination with lines returns as a recurring theme once again on Twelve Mile Circle, like previous articles such as Wisconsin vs. Florida, Reno vs. Los Angeles, and Glasgow vs. Madrid. I found myself thinking about lines of latitude and longitude this morning when I noticed a random search engine query that pondered whether Portland,…

  • Alien Encounters

    Aliens have left their imprint on the landscape, at least according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Board on Geographic Names. I conducted a search on the Geographic Names Information System and encountered undeniable proof of two alien lifeforms among their 2,199,977 records. All joking aside, I don’t actually think the USGS is in cahoots with…

  • Odds and Ends 2

    Previously I composed of a collection of random thoughts, none of which merited an article on its own. It seemed to make sense to call it Odds and Ends. So I plan to do the same thing again today. Logically I should call this one Odds and Ends 2, like any good Hollywood blockbuster. Salt…

  • Oreton

    Have you ever been to Oreton? So you say you’ve never heard of it? Neither had I until a few days ago. Let’s just say it has some rather interesting urban design elements. England I started my search in England and found a Street View image of one Oreton candidate in a rural corner of…

  • Bull’s Eye

    It’s been awhile since I’ve given much thought to the Degree Confluence Project. I featured them in the earlier days of the Twelve Mile Circle, nearly three years ago as I recall. The project has its roots in a time before the complete ubiquity of the Internet, when the web was still capturing public attention…

  • Cog Railways

    Many years ago my fiancé (now wife) and I traveled through northern New England for two weeks. That was long ago. We actually tent-camped our way through a string of rustic state parks with few amenities. It changed to Bed-and-Breakfasts Inns after our marriage. Then it changed again to whatever hotel happened to have an…

  • Nearly Willow

    Many months ago I explored the Worst State Capital Locations and received a number of thoughtful and insightful comments. I examined conditions from various perspectives including the most inconveniently located state capital for an individual traveling from the largest city. Juneau, Alaska won that part of the competition hands-down. Residents from Anchorage face a daunting…

  • Least Visited U.S. Counties

    Of all the 3,143 counties and county-equivalents in the United States, which are the least visited? I don’t think there is any definitive way to know for certain. As a proxy, however, I examined the 20 least visited counties for the Lower 48 states listed on the Mob Rule county counting website as of June…

  • Blank to Blank

    I focused on towns named Welcome in a recent article here on Twelve Mile Circle, with specific attention to a sign outside of one in particular located in North Carolina: Welcome to Welcome. I wondered if other towns could cobble together similar symmetries at their city limits. All I could envision at the time was…

  • Iron Butt Rally

    I’d had a vague notion of the premise behind the Iron Butt Association, a loose organization of people addicted to extremely long-distance motorcycle rides. But the basic membership, the absolutely easiest level, requires a documented ride of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) within 24 hours. They call it the SaddleSore 1000. Rides quickly increase in difficulty…

Latest Comments

  1. I’ve enjoyed your Hawaii reports. I’ve visited 4 times, between 1976 and 2007, but no plans to return. In 1976…

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

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

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