Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Celebrate the Day Twice

    As happens frequently here, I noticed an interesting phrase deposited by a search engine in my web traffic logs. The gist of the query — from an unknown but curious user — seemed straightforward enough. Could someone celebrate a birthday twice by crossing the International Date Line? Yes, it’s absolutely possible. There must be any…

  • English Whitewater

    Speaking of clapper bridges… we were talking about clapper bridges, right? They’re not all confined to Devonshire. The Tarr Steps clapper bridge is a notable exception located in Somerset at Exmoor National Park. Unlike the clapper bridges of Devon that date primarily from the middle ages and later eras, the Tarr Steps clapper may date…

  • Clapper Bridges

    A simple form of bridge design features a series of stone slabs set atop rock pilings. It ranks maybe one rung up from stepping stones placed in the water or logs laid from bank-to-bank on the evolutionary scale of bridge design. Regardless, it certainly falls within the more primitive bridge construction types imaginable. In England,…

  • Saint Martin Observations

    I led-off with Saint Martin geo-oddities as one would expect on Twelve Mile Circle. However, with that obligation safely behind me I can now begin to act more like a “normal” tourist, or as close to normal as I can muster. I’m not typical when it comes to holiday travels, as you’ve undoubtedly learned while…

  • Saint Martin Borders and Boundaries

    Borders? We don’t need no stinking borders. You didn’t really think I’d go all the way to St. Martin and sit on the beach all week, right? Well I’ve done a bit of that too, and I’ll focus some attention there in my next post. However, today it’s all about all the awesome border crossings…

  • Thank You for the Holiday

    Maybe you’ve seen the charity advertisements. They tell you that for the price of a cup of coffee per day you can save the planet, or some such claim? Apparently for the price of a cup of coffee per day someone can also get a Caribbean vacation. However, it takes about four years. I am…

  • The State of Wayne

    I first uncovered a reference to the State of Wayne in a hundred year-old book as I researched the various Van Buren erasures in 19th century Missouri. I noted this fascinating term of art in my records. One never knows when such a thing might come in handy. It gained a prominent place on my…

  • Dueling Portmanteau Placenames

    My recent article on Mexican borders visible on Street View reminded me of a situation that’s long fascinated me. It came to the forefront as I viewed this image: Can you find the border in this image? Sure you can. That’s a silly question. Calexico vs. Mexicali The rural area north of this amazingly stark…

  • Geo-Oddities of Portland, Oregon

    Every once in awhile I’m honored to share content or even an entire guest post written by a loyal Twelve Mile Circle reader. We are very lucky today. Marc Alifanz contributes his expert knowledge of Geo-oddities in Portland, Oregon. Marc is an experienced blogger both in his professional and personal life and as he demonstrates…

  • Potomac in Oregon

    Is there a Potomac River in Oregon? I’m only aware of the one that forms a boundary between Virginia and Maryland/Washington, DC and out to West Virginia. However, I’ve been receiving a slow but steady trickle of search engine queries on the topic for the last several weeks. Maybe I’m missing something. Is there a…

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…