# Geographic anomaly: Tiny bits of Michigan that drain into the Mississippi. Share your geo-anomalies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033 "2020-02-16T17:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/41 "2020-02-17T13:50:42Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > How about [this](https://uncoveringpa.com/triple-continental-divide) - a triple continental divide not too far from where I grew up. > > Allegheny River to Gulf of Mexico > Genesee River to the Atlantic via the St Lawrence > Susquehanna River to the Atlantic via Chesapeake Bay That happens in northern Minnesota too. Water can travel: –South to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River –North via the Red River of the North to Hudson Bay –East via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence to the Atlantic ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/42 "2020-02-17T14:25:35Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Not too long ago, I read that a tiny bit of South Carolina is in the Mississippi drainage basin. I’m talking a few acres right on the straight portion of the North Carolina border in either Pickens County or Oconee County. It’s swampy land so the direction of flow is not immediately obvious. The fact was discovered quite recently by a teenager poring over online maps, and confirmed by the USGS. Unfortunately I can’t find the story online now. You know, I’m wondering if it’s not this spot: [35°05’08.1"N 82°47’04.9"W](https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B005'08.1%22N+82%C2%B047'04.9%22W/@35.085573,-82.7868707,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x885c0f3f4ff07875:0x991a592c37d19423!2sFrench+Broad+River!3b1!8m2!3d35.9488466!4d-83.6931236!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d35.085573!4d-82.7846824!5m1!1e4) if you look at the terrain, it appears that this area of South Carolina may drain into the Sal Tom Creek and hence into the French Broad River, then to the Tennessee River, and then to the Mississippi. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/43 "2020-02-17T14:31:19Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > [Kaskaskia](https://americanprofile.com/articles/kaskaskia-the-only-illinois-town-west-of-the-mississippi-river/), IL is the only Illinois town west of the Mississippi. And only because the river decided to follow a new course after a flood and screw everyone up. Interesting. And it looks like the only way to access it by road is through Missouri. Looks like there’s only one road from the southwest that leads into it. (And it looks like the Google Street View car has never visited it yet.) Only a population of 14 in 2000 and looks like the entire precinct is something like 36, but it does have a church and a cemetery (as it used to be somewhat populous, reaching a population of 7000 in the 18th century.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/44 "2020-02-17T14:49:53Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Most people believe the entire state of MI is within the Great Lakes Watershed. I have a feeling you may be underestimating the amount of people who even know what the Great Lakes Watershed even is to believe the entire state of MI is within it. 🙂 (Heck, I didn’t know what it was until now.) ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/45 "2020-02-17T15:02:27Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > if you look at the terrain, it appears that this area of South Carolina may drain into the Sal Tom Creek and hence into the French Broad River, then to the Tennessee River, and then to the Mississippi. > > What do you think? I’m inclined to agree (if there’s any such place). West of Moorefield Highway (178) we’re definitely in the Savannah system, and to the east, the rugged border seems to follow exactly the watershed (it’s not drawn entirely accurate in Google maps). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/46 "2020-02-17T15:08:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I have a feeling you may be underestimating the amount of people who even know what the Great Lakes Watershed even is to believe the entire state of MI is within it. 🙂 (Heck, I didn’t know what it was until now.) Well, by _people_ I mean map-literate primates. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/47 "2020-02-17T15:09:06Z")
For the optical illusions, the most famous (at least in Canada) is Magnetic Hill, near Moncton New Brunswick. [https://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/Products/M/Magnetic-Hill/](https://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/Products/M/Magnetic-Hill/) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/48 "2020-02-17T15:13:13Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > If I stand at the top of my driveway, I’m at eye-level with a continental divide. Can anybody else here claim something like that from their property? Sounds anomalous to me. Not I, but I could see the edge of the Allegheny Plateau, and was only a couple miles from the Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico Divide (and probably less than 100 miles from the triple point **jasg** mentions.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/49 "2020-02-17T15:46:37Z")
> [@K364](#): > > For the optical illusions, the most famous (at least in Canada) is Magnetic Hill, near Moncton New Brunswick. > > [https://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/Products/M/Magnetic-Hill/](https://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/Products/M/Magnetic-Hill/) Yeah, there’s a few of these around. I seem to recall one in Pennsylvania as we were on our way to Harrisburg from the west, but it was a little bit of a drive off the interstate, and it didn’t seem like the most impressive example of this optical illusion. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/50 "2020-02-17T15:46:54Z")
The Great Lakes watershed doesn’t encompass what many people think. It’s heavily weighted towards the north. For example, although eastern Wisconsin is close to Lake Michigan, due to geology and geography, very little EW naturally drains to the lake, but instead, flows west into the Mississippi Valley. Towards the southern part of the state. only a tiny sliver of land near the lake is actually in the GL Watershed; the N-S line passes thru western Milwaukee Metro. This presents a problem, because the [Great Lakes Compact](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Compact) (between Canada & US) prohibits drawing from Lake Michigan (even wells) and discharging outside of the watershed, i.e., Mississippi Valley. [Exceptions have been granted,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Compact#waukesha) but it’s not automatic, and quite controversial. Sending GL water to Arizona has been proposed (pipelines or tanker ships), and although it might be feasible from an engineering standpoint, it would have to overcome the GL Compact, a highly unlikely possibility. Although, this year, I’d welcome someone who would haul a couple-bazillion gallons of Lake Michigan somewhere else, and maybe I could get my beach back and save my house. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/51 "2020-02-17T15:58:45Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > **Colibri** , my father and I went on a tour of Panama. He has an excellent sense of direction. He practically went insane in Panama trying to figure out directions and which body of water we were looking at. I can get lost in a Sears, so I just stayed bewildered. A lot of people find it hard to get their head around the fact that Panama runs east and west, not north and south. When I talk about going to western Panama, they look confused until I clarify “the side toward Costa Rica.” When Balboa discovered the Pacific, he called it the “South Sea” (_Mar del Sur_), since from where he stood it was to the south. (Magellan was the one who christened it the Pacific.) A ship traveling from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama Canal goes mostly northwest to southeast. Also, Panama is farther east than people think. Panama City, Florida, is west of Panama City, Panama. We in the same time zone as New York. Panama is also south of Caracas, Venezuela. > [@](#): > > On the other hand we saw wild Panamanian night monkeys and some frog or other which he immediately ID’d, so those were big plusses. Night monkeys (unlike other monkeys) are tough to see, so congratulations. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/52 "2020-02-17T16:06:24Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Never heard of San Francisco? Part on the Pacific, part on the N.A. plate. They had a famous quake 100+ years ago you might have heard of. (Plus several other smaller [cities](https://www.mapsofworld.com/answers/k-12-resources/cities-on-san-andreas-fault/).) No need to be an asshole about it. By the way, San Francisco sits on the North America side of the San Andreas fault. An interesting water feature here in Oregon is the Metolius River. It’s only 28 miles long, but it pops up fully formed from springs at Black Butte at a rate of 50,000 gal/min. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/53 "2020-02-17T16:13:17Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > You know, I’m wondering if it’s not this spot: [35°05’08.1"N 82°47’04.9"W](https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B005'08.1%22N+82%C2%B047'04.9%22W/@35.085573,-82.7868707,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x885c0f3f4ff07875:0x991a592c37d19423!2sFrench+Broad+River!3b1!8m2!3d35.9488466!4d-83.6931236!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d35.085573!4d-82.7846824!5m1!1e4) > > if you look at the terrain, it appears that this area of South Carolina may drain into the Sal Tom Creek and hence into the French Broad River, then to the Tennessee River, and then to the Mississippi. The official US Topo map of that spot does show that bit of Pickens County SC on the wrong side of the watershed divide (the Tennessee valley divide) there! Huzzah! Bits of South Carolina do drain into the Mississippi! I can’t link to the specific map zoom but go to [topozone.com](http://topozone.com) to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/54 "2020-02-17T16:54:42Z")
Not exactly a geographic anomaly, but certainly a cartographic one. In Albuquerque you’ll find the spot where [Northeast Circle SW intersects with Southeast Circle NW](https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B006'05.6%22N+106%C2%B040'21.6%22W/@35.1015525,-106.6726014,19.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d35.1015556!4d-106.6726667?hl=en). Bonus- it’s only a block away from where Northwest Circle NW intersects Southeast Circle NW. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/55 "2020-02-17T18:56:51Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Although, this year, I’d welcome someone who would haul a couple-bazillion gallons of Lake Michigan somewhere else, and maybe I could get my beach back and save my house. Ooh, we feel for you. So many people are losing waterfront property that many of them are having to move their houses as far inland as they can, on their property. I think of some of the little houses we rented on L. Michigan when I was a kid, and they didn’t have much property to let them move the house. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/56 "2020-02-17T19:05:30Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ooh, we feel for you. So many people are losing waterfront property that many of them are having to move their houses as far inland as they can, on their property. I think of some of the little houses we rented on L. Michigan when I was a kid, and they didn’t have much property to let them move the house. I’ve got the land to move mine, but the house is too big to move. So we invest in seawall upgrades. Whee! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/57 "2020-02-17T19:51:22Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Not exactly a geographic anomaly, but certainly a cartographic one. In Albuquerque you’ll find the spot where [Northeast Circle SW intersects with Southeast Circle NW](https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B006'05.6%22N+106%C2%B040'21.6%22W/@35.1015525,-106.6726014,19.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d35.1015556!4d-106.6726667?hl=en). Bonus- it’s only a block away from where Northwest Circle NW intersects Southeast Circle NW. Possibly also in the cartographic category: It’s been mentioned multiple times on this board (by me and others) that, on a certain road in Berkeley, CA., you are traveling simultaneously east and west. > [@Why no Interstate I-30, I-50 and I-60?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-interstate-i-30-i-50-and-i-60/740660/8): > > Over by Berkeley you can find yourself travelling simultaneously on 80 East and 580 West while actually going north. That pesky bay again. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/58 "2020-02-17T20:31:36Z")
I grew up in rural eastern Colorado and was therefore familiar with the concept of correction lines, which are east-west jogs (rarely more than a quarter-mile long) in north-south oriented roads. A person can be driving directly south for ten miles, for instance, and then come to either an L- or T-shaped intersection, drive east for a few hundred feet, and then turn south again on the same road. The interest in Iowa’s caucus system a few days ago brought to the attention of many the fact that some of the [state’s counties are oddly shaped](https://geology.com/county-map/iowa.shtml). It’s for the same reason: it’s impossible to draw a long straight line, like a county border or state highway, on a spherical surface like the Earth to match a longitudinal line. Many states have natural geologic features, like hills or lakes, to keep a road from being straight over the course of dozens of miles. Eastern Colorado, as is the case with parts of many western states, has few hills and fewer lakes, so a correction line keeps the majority, but not all, of the road parallel to a longitude. The western states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are thought of as being perfect rectangles (allowing for Wyoming to take a bite out of Utah’s northeast corner), but they’re actually isosceles trapezoids because their northern corners are closer together than their southern corners – again, because of the curvature of the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/59 "2020-02-17T21:38:30Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > All the best surf spots in California are East of Reno, NV. Maverick’s for big waves? > [@Xema](#): > > Panama Canal is east of Miami FL. I’ve had people not believe me that Atlanta is further west than Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/60 "2020-02-17T22:24:19Z")
An oldie but not mentioned so far: You fly south from Detroit’s City Airport. What’s the first foreign country you cross over? Answer: Canada. Ontario takes a big bend westward south of Lake St. Clair but north and west of Lake Erie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033.md?page=4)