Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Streetview Beats a Deadhorse

    It all started innocently enough as a challenge from loyal reader “Matthias.” He began to ponder various geo-oddities surrounding the northernmost reach of Google Street View. Of course, I was up for a mental adventure after having been trapped in my home for several days due to snow.(1) However, unbeknownst to Matthias, Google Street View…

  • Let’s Get County Lines Drawn on Google Street View

    [UPDATE: Google Maps finally added county lines in January 2012]. Loyal reader “Greg” wonders, “why Google [Maps] doesn’t show county boundaries?” Google Maps and its ongoing lack of county borders is a continuing frustration to me, but I suspect it doesn’t exist for the same reason as the not-quite-perfect international borders: except for a few…

  • Missisquoi Bay Exclave

    Often a question once answered leads to another question on Twelve Mile Circle. So I’d just analyzed the thousands of separate border segments between Canada and the United States. Then I stumbled upon a very small US exclave that I’d never noticed before. It’s located on Missisquoi Bay, an extension of Lake Champlain. Thus, it…

  • Canada-USA Border Segment Extremes

    Many superlatives describe the border between Canada and the United States. It’s the longest non-militarized border on the planet. It touches three different Oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic) plus the Great Lakes. It extends 8,891 kilometres (5,525 miles). While impressive, this isn’t about any of that. No, I’m more interested in the extremes in the opposite…

  • Enough With the Snow Already

    Well, here we go again. The Washington, DC area is experience its second “epic” snowstorm this season. Our previous snow in December 2009 brought about sixteen inches by the time it finished. We were already up to sixteen inches this morning at 8:00 am. Then I took this photograph: You’ll notice a little stick extending…

  • Ignorance or Brilliance?

    So it’s a very simple question. Is there an area with no time zone? Nonetheless, I dismissed the question when it first landed on Twelve Mile Circle in the form of a search query the other morning. I noticed it waiting in my user access logs although this random visitor never asked me personally. The…

  • Bibb-Monroe Revisited

    The recent changes Google made to embedded scripts for Street View is rather annoying. However, it did produce a couple of positive results. So, remember when I mentioned those newly-available images previously? They let me take a step back and wax nostalgic on some of my older articles. They’re history now but they were current…

  • 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…

  • Driving on the Opposite Side

    I noticed an anomaly recently as I pondered a map of Interstate 5 covering California. Generally speaking, the custom in the United States is to drive on the right side of the road.(1) Just north of Santa Clarita near Castaic Lake, however, I-5 splits and switches that order. Vehicles driving steadily along on the right…

  • Maintenance Update

    Recently I mentioned that Google Maps changed the script for embedding Street View images within blogs. Unfortunately it rendered the previous format as useless blank spots on the page. However I’ve uncovered an unexpected silver lining as I’ve reviewed and edited each file. I can now find Street View images that did not exist when…

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…