Tag: Virginia
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Lazy Blue Ridge Afternoon
Over the weekend we traveled down the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It forms part of an ancient backbone, the Appalachian chain abutting central Virginia. As the crow flies, it wasn’t too far from Shenandoah National Park’s Swift Run Gap and Skyline Drive. We were guest on private land so I won’t give…
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Unusual Goes Very Local, Part II
Continuing on the theme from the previous post, I have another example of a very local anomaly in Arlington County, Virginia. Hopefully you will enjoy this one too. I encourage you to check around your neighborhood and see if you can find your own strange situations. I’d be glad to feature any that you might…
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Unusual Goes Very Local, Part I
Twelve Mile Circle is an appreciation of unusual places. However, they don’t have to be famous to be noteworthy. Every town has at least one unusual place, maybe more. Perhaps even your own hometown has a few. There is a spot in Arlington County, Virginia where a contiguous road called “North 26th Street” changes names.…
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When Categories Collide!
Here I explore a mashup of two wonderful topics covered in previous posts. I’ll combine the County Highpointers Association and the epilogue to my Smallest County Series. I decided to see whether I could reach the highpoints of both the smallest self-governing county in the United States and the smallest “county equivalent” location recognized by…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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River Headwaters and Sources
Long is the history of adventurers who explored distant lands and tangled jungles to find the true origin of mighty rivers. But rivers are not simple contiguous lines that trace back easily to a single spot. Rather they are widely spread watersheds that drain to a common outlet. There can be hundreds of liquid tendrils…
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USA States Called Commonwealths
The term “Commonwealth” breaks down into two basic components to understand its meaning. The “common” portion refers to the people or to the public. Meanwhile, “wealth” refers to well being or welfare. So commonwealth is a system of government that performs in the interests and well being of the people. It exists through their consent…
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Grotian Traditions, Thalwegs and Winner Take All
Rivers are a natural boundaries and a pretty obvious way to determine who controls land on either bank. Well, not withstanding occasional riverbed shifts. However rivers are also natural resources in their own right. They provide drinking water, irrigation, food and transportation. Those who control territory abutting a river naturally want to own and control…