Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • 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…

  • The Twelve Mile Circle, Part I

    Today marks the one-year Anniversary of this website, Twelve Mile Circle. However I’ve yet to explain the actual Twelve Mile Circle behind the name. I promised myself I would do so if I could keep this site active for a year, and I’ve now met that goal. So here goes. As many regular readers already…

  • 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…

  • Halloween Spots

    It’s Halloween here in the United States, so for a little fun today let’s feature some geography that fits within that spooky theme. One of the more obvious choices would be Salem, Massachusetts, site of the famous witch trials in 1692-1693. Over 150 people were imprisoned for witchcraft, with nineteen accused victims hanged and one…

  • 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…

  • Delaware’s Border Tax

    Recently I featured the Southwick Jog, a little appendage of Massachusetts that juts into the northern tier of Connecticut. Then a reader brought a recent article in the Hartford Courant to my attention. Geographically, the town of Southwick in Massachusetts includes the entirety of Congamond Lake within its boundaries. So it intends to levy fees…

  • 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.…

  • The Point of Five Nevis Parishes

    I’ve been on a border kick lately. You may have noticed that if you’ve been paying attention to the last several of posts. Quite some time ago I described a situation in Florida. There, five counties came together at a single point in the middle of Lake Okeechobee. Now something a little more dramatic: five…

  • Southwick Jog

    Follow the border between Connecticut and Massachusetts westward and you’ll notice a little notch in an otherwise straight line. Many call this 2-1/2 mile dip the Southwick Jog after the town that plugs the hole. The ultimate authority and definitive source is “The Southwick Jog” by Rev. Edward R. Dodge, as appearing in Southwick, Massachusetts…

  • Neutral Moresnet

    All this recent talk on Twelve Mile Circle about strange European borders and condominium arrangements brings me to one of my favorite former anomalies: Neutral Moresnet. This place existed as somewhat of a no-man’s-land lodged firmly between sovereign neighbors from 1816 to 1920. Europe looked different as Napoleon’s empire dissolved. The victors negotiated amongst themselves…

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  2. Hi Mr. Howder — Just going from memory, I recall that your “rule” for counting a nation/state/county is “if I’m…

  5. Does anyone have actual music to the song – Tanaha ,Timpson. Bobo and Blair ?? It was recorded by Tex…