Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Arizona Does Not Recognize Daylight Saving Time

    If my timing were better I would have discussed this a few days ago. However, this doesn’t become very visible until the last moment. Then I forget about it and go on with my life. Invariably, twice a year, right before the change to/from Daylight Saving Time, my web traffic logs start to hum with…

  • Fraser Island – World’s Largest Sand Island

    Fraser Island is a remarkable natural setting. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) even recognized it as a World Heritage Site. In granting this designation, UNESCO said, “Fraser Island lies just off the east coast of Australia. At 122 km long, it is the largest sand island in the world. Majestic remnants of…

  • National Geographic Museum

    The Twelve Mile Circle blog fixates on geography and travel. Naturally then, it appreciates the accomplishments of the National Geographic Society over its 120 year history. What many readers may not know is that members of the public can get a peek at the results of some of their research. The society runs a small…

  • The Transpeninsular Line

    I’ve been traveling recently, in fact, I’ve been closer to the Twelve Mile Circle than I’ve been in quite some time. During those travels I was able to stop by the Transpeninsular Line. In this blog I discuss various odd geographic topics that happen to interest me. The Transpeninsular Line is certainly one of those.…

  • Smallest County in the USA, Epilogue

    The previous entries discussed the whole issue of “smallest county in the United States” in way more detail that it probably deserved. However, I wanted to point out one more oddity. The smallest self-governing county and the smallest independent city share a common border! So Arlington’s far western border runs straight along the entirety of…

  • Smallest County in the USA, Part 4

    Today we crown the “Smallest County in the United States.” As noted in Parts 1 through 3 in this series, serious problems arose with the three smallest geographical units called counties (Kalawao County, Hawaii, New York County, New York and Bristol County, Rhode Island). Those three are counties in name only. They have no independently…

  • Smallest County in the USA, Part 3

    Previous posts discussed several reasons why the three smallest counties in the United States do not function autonomously. Thus, they should not be considered counties except in name only. Independent Cities The focus of the current post is another unusual arrangement, the situation of independent cities. They function identically to most counties but in fact…

  • Smallest County in the USA, Part 2

    The previous article discussed why Kalawao County, Hawaii may not really be the smallest county in the United States. Essentially, it’s not actually a county except in name only. So let’s examine the next smallest counties by area, New York County in New York and Bristol in Rhode Island. As it turns out, they are…

  • Smallest County in the USA, Part 1

    What is the smallest county in the United States? It’s such a simple question but there are many ways to approach it. It really depends. Would it be the smallest parcel of land that actually carries the title “county?” Does it require a distinct, functional government with specific attributes? What about independent cities that provide…

  • Canada – Close to the Border

    This installment provides an instance where something sounded simple but turned out to be much more complicated than originally expected. Supposedly a disproportionately large percentage of the Canadian population lived near its southern border with the United States. So that should be a pretty easy thing to fact check, right? An Amorphous Band U.S. sources…

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…