Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Tag: Revolutionary War

  • DeKalb

    DeKalb felt like such an odd choice for a relatively common place name in the United States. I’d seen it a number of times in various widely-distributed locations over the years. I’d pondered its pronunciation which generally seemed to sound like dee-KAB with a silent L. So, naturally I wondered about its origin. It didn’t…

  • Certainly Not Austin

    Austin is the vibrant capital city of Texas with nearly two million people in its greater metropolitan area. It features a bustling economy and a thriving music scene. Austinville in Virginia, well, it doesn’t have any of that. It’s a nondescript, unincorporated Appalachian village with only 2,500 residence in its entire zip code. Yet, as…

  • King’s College Tract

    I came across a tiny, minor footnote as I researched Yankee Doodle Dunce, an account of allegedly independent nations that joined the United States. This story involved Vermont specifically. The situation occurred within the confusing, overlapping New York royal decrees and New Hampshire Grants. The turmoil of the American Revolutionary War further compounded the situation.…

  • Yankee Doodle Dunce

    My recent long weekend at the in-laws provided plenty of downtime, which is a good thing. However, I’m also one of those people who has to do something at all times. Luckily they always have a stack of magazines — remember those quaint periodic booklets printed on actual paper? And I had plenty of time…

  • Mainland Manhattan

    I reexamined a map of New York County for an article in progress recently and it reminded me of its odd boundaries. Most people are either unaware of this county or confuse it with the much larger New York City. Or if they have a basic awareness of the geography they equate it to the…

  • 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…

  • 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…