Category: Water
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Smallest Largest Provincial Island in Canada
You read that right. Perhaps I can rephrase it better: Each Canadian Province or Territory has a largest island. When considering that list, which one is the smallest? Today’s totally trivial topic comes courtesy of the confluence of many competing thoughts that pinged around my mind lately: I’m “-est” fixated (you know, things ending in…
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Naval Ensigns of U.S. States
Many of the colonies that became the original 13 United States had their own navies during the Revolutionary War. Indeed, only New Jersey and Delaware did not. Individual colonies hastily cobbled together fleets as the conflict unfolded. With these, they hoped to defend American shores from a superior British fleet. States formally commissioner some of…
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West Coast Sunrises over Water
We’ve had fun watching the comments posted on my recent entry, East Coast Sunsets over Water. Matthew kicked things off when he wondered whether the opposite condition might exist. Does a West Coast sunrise ever happen over water? Scott Schrantz who has followed the Twelve Mile Circle for awhile, later solved the mystery by providing…
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They Reversed the Chicago River
What’s a growing city to do when its water supply is jeopardized by its own filth? If it’s Chicago and it’s the late 19th Century, they reverse the flow of an entire river system. In the process they purposely punctured a Continental Divide. I’m in Chicago this week so I wanted to make sure I…
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East Coast Sunsets over Water
We all have visions of a romantic Hollywood movie with a classic California scene. Naturally it includes a vibrant sunset over calm Pacific waters. I recall a conversation I had a number of years ago with a west coast native. He raved about those sunsets with an air of superiority. Obviously people on the east…
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Caribbean Ferries
Regular readers have gotten used to my unnatural fascination with, and periodic musings about ferries. I’ve been slowly cataloging and mapping ferry systems from around the world using the Google Maps API. The operative word being slowly. I’m finally ready to release the latest compilation. Ferries of the Caribbean (and beyond). Check it out! This…
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The Twelve Mile Circle, Part II
An arc-shaped portion of the border between Delaware and Pennsylvania serves as the most visible manifestation of the so-called Twelve Mile Circle, as noted in the previous entry. However other impacts can also be discerned. The oddity also effects the Delaware – New Jersey boundary, albeit less visibly. Refer back to the map again and…
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A Colonial Capital
I spent some of last week on business travel to Williamsburg, Virginia. Unfortunately I sat in a conference room for most of the time. However, I did manage to make it out to the historic sites for a few brief moments. Geography made Williamsburg the capital of the Virginia Colony and geography later took that…
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Sticking it to the Man (border style)
In recent posts I’ve listed examples of state and local governments leveraging the geography of their physical borders. They’ve generated tax revenue from outsiders who had no electoral standing to challenge it. For instance, I discussed situations found in the Southwick Jog of Massachusetts and the interstate highway traveling through northern Delaware. However, every once…
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Vermont: Another border anomaly. Sort of?
Various small locations in the United States connect to the North American continent but do not physically connect to the rest of the U.S. Two of those spots require people to clear immigration and customs and then enter Canada. Then they do it all over again in reverse to gain access to the small parcel.…