My fascination with lines returns as a recurring theme once again on Twelve Mile Circle, like previous articles such as Wisconsin vs. Florida, Reno vs. Los Angeles, and Glasgow vs. Madrid. I found myself thinking about lines of latitude and longitude this morning when I noticed a random search engine query that pondered whether Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine was further north. No doubt, the unknown visitor was drawn here by Marc Alifanz’s wonderful guest article on Geo-Oddities of Portland, Oregon.
I already knew the answer and I’m sure many of you did too. It’s one of those fairly common geo-trivia question one see on the Intertubes.
While somewhat counterintuitive, the Portland that’s located in Oregon is farther north than the one found in Maine. The mind is fooled because Maine comprises the northern extremities of New England while Oregon doesn’t even extend to the Canadian boarder. However I’d never actually drawn this alignment on a map before. It’s a bit surprising to see exactly how far north the Oregon instance extends versus the one in Maine. It’s considerable.
That got me thinking about other possibilities.
London, Ontario or London, England?
The same concept works here as well. Canada is thought of as a nation extending well beyond the Arctic Circle while England isn’t even the most northerly part of Great Britain. How could England be farther north than Canada, wonders the subconscious mind? Yet, the London found in Ontario is well south of its more famous namesake. It’s not even a contest.
London, Ontario is located in the part of Canada that dips considerably south, an area sometimes known as Carolinian Canada with flora and fauna more akin to the Carolinas of the United States. It’s surprising, actually, to compare the southern extent of London, Ontario to a map of Europe. Even a narrow strip of Spain reaches a more northern latitude.
Charleston, South Carolina or Charleston, West Virginia?
Would similar situations exist in other like-named locations? Generally not, but they sometimes present other pleasant surprises. I compared Charleston, South Carolina to Charleston, West Virginia. The West Virginia city is indeed further west, as the name implies and as one would expect.
However, go ahead and draw a line of longitude from the South Carolina counterpart. Notice that many decidedly non-coastal cities, even Appalachian Mountain cities share the same approximate longitude: Greensboro, NC; Roanoke, VA; Morgantown, WV, and Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh? I never would have guessed that one, in particular.
Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri?
People generally think of Kansas as west of Missouri. Per our intuition, Kansas City on the Kansas side of the border is generally west of the one in Missouri. However, one area on the Kansas side is a little further east than some of Missouri side due to a boundary that follows the Missouri River. It looks to be a rather industrial area filled with petroleum storage tanks. Given that, it’s likely that few residents can brag about living in this geo-anomaly. Nonetheless it exists.
Next I got greedy and overconfident, and I focused my attention on Texarkana. After my brief examination, I think I can say with fair certainty that the border follows a very straight path. I didn’t find any surprising geographic twists anywhere between Texas and Arkansas within the town limits. It was time to stop for the day.
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