Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • My Ridiculous Historic Parallel

    My interest in history is probably as great as my interest in geography. So naturally that’s a theme I’ve woven into Twelve Mile Circle quite regularly. Keeping that in mind, I’ve grown ever-excited as events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War approach. Activities will escalate rapidly on April 12, 2011 with the…

  • Random Canada

    Many months ago I toyed with an idea that I called “Throw the Dart”. That’s where I’d go into Google Street View, drop the cursor onto some random part of the world and then try to create an article from thin air. It worked pretty well in October 2009 when I hit a spot outside…

  • Population: 1

    I’ve long been interest in small towns facing unique circumstances in isolation. I wondered what might be the smallest town, not just some guy living in a shack by himself but an actual recognized, incorporated town. From there I found an old post from the misc.transport.road newsgroup (remember Usenet?). It explained that the question isn’t…

  • Geography Collapsed

    I’m in New Orleans, Louisiana this week. Unfortunately I’m not here for a family visit this time, but purely for business. That means I haven’t had much of an opportunity to get out into the city. I’m spending long hours in a hotel meeting room during the day. Then in the evening I have to…

  • So Many Questions

    When most people use a search engine they focus on a few key terms, perhaps use quotation marks to find specific phrases or using addition or subtraction marks if they’re a bit more sophisticated in the use of such tools. Others seek knowledge using an actual question, as if the search engine is a human…

  • Turlough

    Sometimes odd geography intersects with odd geology. One particularly rare example occurs on the island of Ireland. It’s called a Turlough or Turlach. Described very simply, it’s an ephemeral lake that appears during the wetter months of autumn through springtime and dries-up during the summer. Most of the examples happen west of the River Shannon.…

  • Fanciful States

    I often see queries on the site along the lines of “Map of counties in State X that border on State Y.” I’m not entirely sure why this is a topic of such interest but apparently there are people who care about such things. There aren’t a lot of resources on this monumental topic so…

  • A Helpless Bystander

    Snow hit the Washington, DC metropolitan area yesterday evening (January 26, 2011). It wasn’t a bad snow, certainly nothing compared to last year’s “Snowmageddon.” However, the timing was awful. It hit right at the height of rush hour in an area with the worst traffic congestion in the United States even on a perfect day.…

  • Leap Year Capital of the World

    Every town craves a little positive attention, maybe create a little local pride, distinguish itself from its neighbors and bring in a few tourist dollars if it’s particularly lucky. However, the universe of remarkable characteristics that puts a place on the map remains pretty limited. What can a small town do when nobody of international…

  • Octagons

    I’ve been going through old digital photographs, labeling and geotagging them so they’ll be easier to find in my collection. I have an appreciation for unique architecture in addition to my fascination with odd geography. Thus, I’ve noticed several photos that feature structures of unusual shape and design The octagon ranks high amongst them. Apparently…

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  2. what is the total population that lives now in the land given back to Virginia should it be part of…

  5. Park ranger at Chalmette (New Orleans) Battlefield let me pull up the Union Jack 20 years ago. My dad would…