Category: U.S. Counties

  • Fanciful States

    I often see queries on the site along the lines of “Map of counties in State X that border on State Y.” I’m not entirely sure why this is a topic of such interest but apparently there are people who care about such things. There aren’t a lot of resources on this monumental topic so…

  • The Jeffersons and Beyond

    I stumbled across a geo-oddity as I worked on one of my other hobbies (genealogy): one family line had a connection with Watertown, in Jefferson County, Wisconsin; and a member of that same family had a connection to Watertown, in Jefferson County, New York. I’d never come across a situation where two states had towns…

  • Appalachian Trail Counties

    For a long time I’ve wondered what would happen if a county counter hiked the Appalachian Trail. I know that’s not a normal curiosity. I’m not the type of person to move in lockstep with everyone else though. However, I am not interested in walking the Appalachian Trail. I am sure the wonders and hardships…

  • Cut the Corner

    Longtime reader James S.[1] has an interesting experience every time he drives along Interstate 75 between Georgia and Florida. There is a spot along that highway where one can observe two county entrance markers simultaneously. Take a close look at the Google Street View image and the signs can be seen pretty easily, one nearby…

  • Presidential Places

    The mailbag continues to overflow with great topics submitted by readers. It’s wonderful to receive this kind of feedback. I hope to create articles around many of your observations and recommendations as I find the right context and opportunity.[1] Recently I heard from Jason J. who wanted to know if I’d been aware of a…

  • Lancaster Minnesota to Lancashire England

    Slow news day. Let’s see if I can cobble something together. I opened up Google Analytics in map mode and noticed a small, isolated dot. It fell suspiciously near the Minnesota-Manitoba-North Dakota Highpoint. So I drilled down a little further and found a visitor from the tiny town of Lancaster, Minnesota. I’d never heard of…

  • The Returns Are In. Maybe.

    I’ve been meaning to fill you in on the results of a referendum I mentioned a few weeks ago. Approval would have moved the Benton Co., Washington county seat to from Prosser to Kennewick. The vote happened more than a week ago. Only now do I feel there’s enough certainty to announce a probable result.…

  • Revisiting the Swap

    It’s not every day that I get an opportunity for a do-over. I was in Williamsburg, Virginia during the early part of this week. It’s so tantalizingly close to The Swap that I featured a few weeks ago. I travel to Williamsburg about once a year on business and I have mixed feelings about the…

  • County with (Another) State’s Name

    It makes great intuitive sense for a state to include a component county with the same name. Imagine living in Oklahoma City. Not only do the residents live in a city named Oklahoma, they also live in a county and a state named Oklahoma. That’s not imaginative, in fact it’s rather boring. Ditto for Arkansas,…

  • Autumn Weekend in Vermont

    My wife and I took the kids on a roadtrip, a brief vacation over the Columbus Day holiday. We drove up to Vermont and remained there for a few days in the crisp autumn weather. We experienced rolling countryside, amazing Fall foliage and natural beauty in abundance. I’ll be sure to post some of those…