{"id":9179,"date":"2011-09-04T06:45:33","date_gmt":"2011-09-04T11:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=9179"},"modified":"2022-02-28T07:17:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T12:17:32","slug":"odd-and-ends-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/odd-and-ends-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Odds and Ends 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I use “Odds and Ends” articles to gather several unrelated topics under a single roof. None of them standing alone would provide enough material to merit its own article. Nonetheless, collectively they might provide a few moments of amusement. These include updates, observations, user suggestions and various failed efforts on my part. If you like these kind of quick-hit stories then you can always find other Odds and Ends in the Complete Index<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Howder Strikes Again<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I spoke of Dr. Howder Road<\/a> about three months ago. Back then I wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I can\u2019t prove it yet, but I\u2019m working under the theory that Dr. Howder had passed away during a period when rural roads were being converted in Fayette County and one of his cousins decided it was a fitting memorial to someone who\u2019d provided a public service for nearly 70 years. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ll ever solve this mystery short of a resident of Dr. Howder Rd. stumbling across this page randomly and filling in the details.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well, even better, one of Dr. Howder’s great-grandchildren stumbled across the page. He consulted his 93-year-old grandmother who solved the mystery. My working theory was close to the actual explanation but it was not exactly right. Dr. Howder had a cabin in the area. He also had a neighbor, a Mr. Hawkins, who needed the road for better access to his farm sometime in the years after Dr. Howder passed away. Mr. Hawkins was the person responsible for naming the road in honor of his friend and neighbor, Dr. Howder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Markers Along the Trans-Canada Highway<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Longitudinal<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’m sensing many more geo-oddity places to visit along the Trans-Canada Highway than I ever imagined. I featured locations corresponding to the Dominion Land Survey<\/a> and the 100th Meridian<\/a> in recent articles. Now, Fritz Keppler, our “county counter extraordinaire<\/a>” adds two more sites to the Trans-Canada marker list (in a comment<\/a>): the Longitudinal Centre of Canada and the halfway point of the highway itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could a road trip along the Trans-Canada Highway be a possibility in the future? We’ll just have to wait and see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More Google Maps Weirdness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Peter from New Mexico wrote recently and wondered about an anomaly along the Rio Grande River near El Paso, Texas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n