Tag: Potomac River
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Ferry from Maryland to Virginia
It’s time to provide another Public Service Announcement. These are Twelve Mile Circle articles that answer burning questions from one-time visitors in the general public that may not appeal to the regular audience. I’ll talk about maps, transportation and a little about history that may interest a localized segment of readers. Feel free to continue…
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Captains Less Prestigious
I had no trouble finding populated places named for Captain James Cook, the legendary 18th Century explorer and navigator, along the edges of the waters he sailed. However, plenty of other captains sailed the oceans during that same period. Naturally I wondered if the maps memorialized others similarly. Could I find other places named “Captain…
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All Those Modes of Transportation
I brought my elementary-aged son to “bring your child to work day” back in April. I wasn’t sure he was going to enjoy the event but he had a fine time. And I learned from it too. It was wonderful to see my very familiar office space through the eyes of someone who had never…
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My Ridiculous Historic Parallel
My interest in history is probably as great as my interest in geography. So naturally that’s a theme I’ve woven into Twelve Mile Circle quite regularly. Keeping that in mind, I’ve grown ever-excited as events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War approach. Activities will escalate rapidly on April 12, 2011 with the…
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Right Place – Wrong Side of the Atlantic
I recently read the the Basement Geographer’s True Name Map of the West Kootenay/Boundary. That, in turn, derived from an earlier project from Kalimedia. I wondered how a detailed True Name map would look for my little corner of the world as I considered the project. For now it remains on that large pile of…
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More Oddities in Washington, DC
It was great to be offered an opportunity to submit a guest post on Google Sightseeing, following in the footsteps of Kyle Kusch of The Basement Geographer. Google Sightseeing is one of my all-time favorite blogs and I read it often. So it was a pleasure working with its principal authors, Alex and James Turnbull.…
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National Mall Flood Plan
The Washington Post featured an interesting map of the 100-year flood plain in the vicinity of the National Mall in Washington, DC, accompanying the article, Flood plan proposed to protect Washington Mall. It discusses a construction project that’s just about underway. When completed, it will keep a large crescent of land dry if the Potomac…
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Summer is Over
Summer is over on the northern side of the equator but probably not for the reasons you expected. I suppose it’s determined by what one considers “end” and “summer” but I’ve recorded unmistakable signs, not so much upon the physical world but through digital fingerprints. There are several candidates that could mark the end of…
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Abingdon Plantation Ruins
Here stand the ruins of the old Abingdon Plantation, an antebellum estate dating back to the colonial times before the United States even existed, when Virginia was subservient to England. The Alexander family, perhaps best remembered today as the namesake of the nearby independent City of Alexandria, held title to these lands. Ownership passed to…
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Lockdown
Twelve Mile Circle is getting ready for Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009. Everyone is excited. Even one of the local brewpubs is getting in on the action. The Looming Traffic Nightmare I’ve watched in amazement as officials have leveraged the local geography to establish a security perimeter. From Virginia it’s a simple a matter of…