Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Vikings in Boston?

    I’m in Boston, Massachusetts this week. Maybe I can satisfy my geo-weirdness fixation in between my all-day business meetings. Fortunately Boston has a compact core with several walkable neighborhoods and a great public transportation system. I had an opportunity to spend a couple of hours wandering around the Back Bay yesterday. This area used to…

  • Colorado’s Remaining Corners

    The United States’ Four Corners phenomenon in the desert southwest receives an inordinate amount of attention on Twelve Mile Circle. I don’t know exactly why. Perhaps it’s because it was one of the first places I ever visited simply because of its geo-weirdness. In fact, the fascination runs so deep that it extends to the…

  • Only Rhode Island and Delaware are Smaller in Size than this State

    It’s homework time again. Somewhere some geography teacher must be handing out a take-home quiz because I’m getting pinged with identical Google queries from multiple sources. They all read, “Only Rhode Island and Delaware are smaller in size than this state.” Regular readers should feel free to skip today’s article which I’m presenting as a…

  • Sometimes North is South

    Canada occupies such an amazingly large swath of upper North American that, understandably, one can overlook exactly how far south the country actually extends. The Province of Ontario contains its most southerly extremes: on the mainland at Point Pelee; on solid land at the edge of Middle Island; and on open water at an international…

  • How Often Does This Get Stolen?

    Roadway warnings in the United States are almost always feature yellowish diamond-shaped signs. They might convey information such as upcoming curves, steep grades, dangerous intersections, rock slide areas, deer crossing areas or various other things to watch out for as one drives along. I saw a rather unusual one as I researched my recent article…

  • 90210: Myth and Reality

    Postal Codes in the United State known as “ZIP Codes” take on a whole variety of fascinating geographical dimensions totally unexplored thus far on Twelve Mile Circle. I can think of no better way to start than with what is arguably the most famous ZIP Code on the planet, one known widely throughout pop culture…

  • The Gauntlet has been Thrown

    Several weeks ago I toyed with an idea for a recurring topic. I would close my eyes, wiggle the cursor around on the screen, and drop it randomly onto a Google Street View map. I would oblige myself to write an article about the resulting spot regardless of where it fell and with no second…

  • I Just Liked the Photo

    I take lots of photographs, not that I’m any good at it. I’m entirely a point-and-click photographer devoid of technical expertise or serious artistic talent. Sometimes I surprise myself. The stars and the moon align on rare occasions and I actually capture an image that speaks to me on a personal level. I’m sure any…

  • Fictional Geo-Marathons

    I know someone who wants to run a race in each of the fifty United States. This is a notable goal both for its endurance and its geographic sweep. I thought perhaps I could help out by putting my unusual geo-perspective to good use . Maybe I could design race courses that clip multiple states.…

  • Gate Splits Border Community

    This is just a quick post for the morning. I wanted to alert the audience to a news article in case you haven’t seen it yet. It said: Gate splits border community, unites it in disdain. This relates to the historically unimpeded border between Derby Line, Vermont, USA and Stanstead, Québec, Canada. Split Apart The…

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…