Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Tag: Annexation

  • Bizarre Broomfield Borders

    Recently Twelve Mile Circle focused a couple of articles on the boundaries of Virginia’s independent cities. That led loyal reader Scott Surgent to comment on an equally strange situation in Broomfield County, Colorado. I certainly knew about Broomfield because of its status as one of the newest and smallest of U.S. counties. It didn’t exist…

  • The Chunk That Got Away

    Social Circle, Georgia would seem to hit all of the highpoints necessary for coverage on Twelve Mile Circle (map). It has an odd name (Social Circle?). Also it has the word “circle” in its title just like the humble 12MC itself. Finally, it is one of those unusual Georgia towns with an actual circular shape,…

  • Strip Annexation in Arizona

    Loyal reader Scott sent me a message recently related to towns studded with enclaves outside of their jurisdiction. That specific topic sometimes generates discussion on Twelve Mile Circle (e.g., Mmm… Doughnut and the Gaithersburg Doughnut Hole). So he wished to bring an even more interesting situation to my attention. He referenced the concept of Strip…

  • Denver’s Freaky Appendage

    Take a look at the shape of Denver, Colorado. You’ll notice an unusual appendage branching out from its northeast corner. Denver represents one of those infrequent hybrid situations where a city and a county combine to form a single entity within a common border. As a consequence, sometimes Denver acts like a city and sometimes…

  • A Town’s Odd Streets and Enclaves

    Geo-oddities exist everywhere. You just have to look for them. I came across an interesting situation in Bothell, Washington, fascinating in its own right but leading to a confluence of events even more unusual. So the situation begins with the city’s placement directly atop a boundary line separating King County from Snohomish County. That’s hardly…