Twelve Mile Circle finds itself with an overflowing mailbag once again with lots of intriguing readers suggestions. Each one of these could probably form an entire article. However, I’ll provide the short versions today to try to clear the backlog. Once again, I’ll say gladly that 12MC has the best readers. I really appreciate learning about new things that I can now share with a broader audience.
Highpoints
I heard from reader “Joe” that a brother and sister pair hoped to break the record for climbing the highest points in each of the lower 48 states in the shortest amount of time. Someone from Britain held the current record at 23 days 19 hour and 31 minutes. Naturally the title couldn’t stand unchallenged and needed to return to the United States. They were on track to beat the record today, and will probably finish this by the time you read this.
Dall Island, Alaska
I wasn’t familiar with Dall Island. However, it formed a minuscule part of the border between the United States and Canada, as mentioned by reader “A.J.” and as noted by Wikipedia:
“Cape Muzon, the southernmost point of the island, is the western terminus, known as Point A, of the A-B Line, which marks the marine boundary between the state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia as defined by the Alaska Boundary Treaty of 1903. This line is also the northern boundary of the waters known as the Dixon Entrance.”
A.J. thought it interesting that Dall Island appeared on a list of internationally divided islands. However, 100% of the landmass exists in the United States and 0% within Canada. The boundary just touched the tip of the island so the portion within Canada would be infinitesimally small, literally only at the so-called Point A (map).
How could the United States own all of an island but not really all of an island? It brought a lot of questions to my mind, too: Was there a border monument? Did the border change with the tides? Would someone get in trouble for touching Point A without reporting to immigrations and customs?
A Capital City
12MC received a bit of a riddle from reader “Brian” that amused me. Everyone educated in the United States should be able to get the answer although apparently it fools a lot people. I’ll go ahead and post the question and then leave a little space so it doesn’t spoil the answer. “Name the City: Of the 50 US capitol cities, this one has the largest population AND falls alphabetically between Olympia (Washington) and Pierre (South Dakota).”
Feel free to scroll down when you’re ready.
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It’s Phoenix, Arizona.
I almost fell into the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania trap until I remembered that Harrisburg is the capital city of Pennsylvania. That may be just an instinctual thing showing nothing more than I’ve lived in the Mid-Atlantic my whole life. I’m sure people in Arizona wouldn’t have a problem with this one. It would be interesting to know if the incorrect “answer” varied by geography.
Yes, I realize I behaved in a horribly unfair manner by using an image of the Liberty Bell to further confuse the issue.
Maldives
Lyn, who’s frequent contributions has earned the exalted title “Loyal Reader Lyn” struck again with a trip to the Maldives (map). Lyn learned long ago that I love getting website hits from obscure locations. Fortunately for me, Lyn’s job goes to interesting places like this and like Douala in Cameroon.
I wish my job took me to equally fascinating places. Sadly, it does not. I’m more likely to travel to exotic spots like Atlanta or Boston. Those are nice places for sure although nothing in comparison to the Maldives or Cameroon. Lyn should start a travel website. I’d subscribe!
Stewart Granger
Bob spotted an interesting intersection while wandering about Waterbury, Connecticut: Stewart Avenue & Granger Street (map).
Stewart Granger was a British actor. His career stretched from the 1940’s through the 1960’s (e.g., starring with John Wayne in North to Alaska).
It’s been a long time since 12MC posted an article on street names and intersections. So this topic looked particularly promising. I thought off the top of my head that someone else from that era would be a good possibility: Errol Flynn. In more modern terms, maybe Taylor Swift? I’ll bet there’s a Taylor St. intersecting with a Swift St. somewhere. Unfortunately the latest version of Google Maps wouldn’t accommodate this type of searching as elegantly as its predecessor. I had to abandon the search.
Wade Hampton Sacked
The last one came from reader, well, me. I actually caught a name change as it happened for once. Usually I find out about it a year or two later, but not this time! A county equivalent unit in Alaska, the Wade Hampton Census Area will become the Kusilvak Census Area. It was all over the Alaska media this week (Wade Hampton no more: Alaska census area honoring Confederate officer is renamed). Wikipedia already made the change.
This may be the largest geographic area affected by the recent renaming of things associated with the old Confederacy. I always thought it was a tad strange that an area of Alaska was named for a Confederate cavalry officer.
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