{"id":10113,"date":"2012-01-24T19:19:07","date_gmt":"2012-01-25T00:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=10113"},"modified":"2022-06-24T06:37:21","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T11:37:21","slug":"new-counties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/new-counties\/","title":{"rendered":"New Counties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I had so much fun hunting through counties with the recent Google Maps boundary release<\/a> that I simply kept going. Then I fixated on a set of United States counties somehow considered “New.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well they started with the prefix New, and referenced something older. Several states included that format so I figured I’d find plenty of counties too. Surprisingly, this wasn’t the case. It’s actually rather uncommon and many of the examples are boring or obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn’t entirely a wasted effort, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Haven County, Connecticut<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"New<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If we have New Haven I wondered, what made Haven? Apparently it was the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A set of Puritans considered themselves even more pure than their Puritan brethren. The colony in Massachusetts wasn’t theologically devout enough for this group of about five hundred people led by the Reverend John Davenport. They left in 1638, arriving at a suitable harbor along the Connecticut coastline, their New Haven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s note that New Haven County (map<\/a>) isn’t really a county anymore, because if I don’t then someone else will. It counts only in minimal instances such as the decennial census. Connecticut abolished county governments in 1960. Functions performed by counties elsewhere happen at the town level in Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Madrid, Missouri<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"2006<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One perplexing aspect of New Madrid is its unusual pronunciation: New MAD-rid (map<\/a>). I figured it couldn’t possibly come from the Madrid in Spain. Well, I continue to learn new things every day. Indeed the name did come from there<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In 1789, Spain granted Col. George Morgan, a Princeton graduate and Indian trader, governorship of a portion of New Spain… Promising to develop the region, he took control of the town and renamed it New Madrid, hoping to turn it into the future capital of New Spain… New Madrid, as the seat of government for one of five Spanish districts in the territory, became one of the first five counties in Missouri.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It’s also remarkable for two nearby geo-oddities across the river: Reelfoot Lake (one of the earliest 12MC articles<\/a>) formed after the massive 1811-1812 earthquakes along the New Madrid fault; and the exclave known as Kentucky Bend or Bubbleland<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Castle, Delaware<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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