Tag: Texas
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Carbon
I noticed an interesting theme in a small town in Eastland County, Texas. Carbon, population 224, seems dedicated to all things carbon as befitting its name. Check out its fascinating array of streets featuring carbon in various allotropes, primarily although not exclusively in the form of coal and its derivatives. Carbon-themed streets I found: Coal…
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Damfino
I received an interesting tip by email about an old street in San Antonio, Texas identified as “Damfino” (as in “Damn if I know”). Our reader even provided a copy of an 1885 map for the online Library of Congress collection, which I’ve excerpted below. He theorized that the street name may have been a…
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Pipeline Crossroads of the World
It seems like every time I run an article about an odd appendage cobbled to the boundaries of a U.S. county, an interested reader brings an equally unusual shape to my attention. That’s great — keep them coming! The latest example arrived courtesy of Scott Surgent. He made a comment on the Merrick Strip article:…
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In Them Old Cotton Fields
Little did reader Ian Dunbar realize that he struck a nerve when he commented on the Bordersplit article. It had nothing to do with his fine words or sentiment. I was in total agreement. Glaring geographical errors in songs grate on my nerves too. My nemesis happens to be a completely different musical composition but…
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It Counts but It’s Pitiful
We’ve had a lively discussion in the comments in relation to the “I’ve Barely Been There” article. I described the official 12MC Rules in the original article: if I touch the geographic area, no matter how briefly, I count it as a visit. I defined “touch” as anything more than flying over it. One doesn’t…
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Random Canadian
The pursuit of geo-oddities is a passion of mine, but not my only one. History, and by extension personal history (genealogy) is another. Sometimes the two intertwine. I’ve long known of a family line tangential to mine that associated with the early history of Canadian, Texas (map). Their involvement began with the founding of Canadian…
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Leap Year Capital of the World
Every town craves a little positive attention, maybe create a little local pride, distinguish itself from its neighbors and bring in a few tourist dollars if it’s particularly lucky. However, the universe of remarkable characteristics that puts a place on the map remains pretty limited. What can a small town do when nobody of international…
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Farm to Market Roads
I realized I might give away the secret for today’s topic when I released my recent article, Farm to Market. Sure enough, loyal and very observant reader Benjamin Lukoff noticed the foreshadowing and mentioned something familiar in his comment.[1] Another article also figures into the triad although it’s not nearly as intuitive. The strangely popular…
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Think of the Children
Regular readers should feel free to skip today’s article. It’s intended to help out a very specific segment of one-time visitors. It’s time for another installment of “Help the Kids with their Homework.”™ The question I keep seeing likely derives from a mathematics assignment, but it also has a nice geography twist. It’s been all-the-rage…