# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/81 "2020-02-18T13:12:04Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > 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. Actually the western border of Colorado takes a short jog somewhere near the middle. Surveyors started at the north and south, and when they were supposed to meet in the middle, they were a few miles apart. So they drew a diagonal line to connect the border. I think that’s the story from “How the States Got Their Shapes.” ---
**Author:** ![Dave.B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dave.B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave.B)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/82 "2020-02-18T16:20:45Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Number of US states with some portion of their territory north of some part of Canada? 26 I was having a hard time believing this one, so I opened up Google Earth Pro and drew a circle centred on the North Pole to the southern most point of Canada (which handily has a blue “i” marker), the south tip of Pelee Island. I actually make it 27 states, with there being an approximately 1 mile wide sliver of Indiana just creeping in. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/83 "2020-02-18T16:41:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > And the distance between Brazil and Africa is less than half the distance between New York and London. Yes. That’s because Gondwana (Africa and South America, in this case) began to split apart several tens of millions of years after North America began to split from Gondwana and Eurasia. ---
**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 18, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/84 "2020-02-18T16:43:24Z")
> [@Dave.B](#): > > I was having a hard time believing this one, so I opened up Google Earth Pro and drew a circle centred on the North Pole to the southern most point of Canada (which handily has a blue “i” marker), the south tip of Pelee Island. > I actually make it 27 states, with there being an approximately 1 mile wide sliver of Indiana just creeping in. 27 is correct! In depth analysis as to why NJ is not one of them is here: [https://blogs.sas.com/content/sastraining/2017/08/10/us-states-north-of-canada/](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sastraining/2017/08/10/us-states-north-of-canada/) ---
**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 18, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/85 "2020-02-18T17:57:12Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > 27 is correct! In depth analysis as to why NJ is not one of them is here: [https://blogs.sas.com/content/sastraining/2017/08/10/us-states-north-of-canada/](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sastraining/2017/08/10/us-states-north-of-canada/) According to that blog post, Alaska is actually north of Washington state, even though [most maps show it to be somewhere south of California!](http://ontheworldmap.com/usa/) How could they get that so wrong :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/86 "2020-02-18T18:25:20Z")
I recently heard about [Lake Cerknica](https://adventure.com/mystery-europes-vanishing-lake-slovenia/), which is intermittent. ---
**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 18, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/87 "2020-02-18T19:03:18Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > According to that blog post, Alaska is actually north of Washington state, even though [most maps show it to be somewhere south of California!](http://ontheworldmap.com/usa/) > > How could they get that so wrong :eek: And Hawaii is just a little south of New Orleans. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/88 "2020-02-18T19:09:33Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > There’s a couple parts of Indiana on the west side of the Wabash River. My road atlas doesn’t show any towns in either one. > > I’m pretty sure there’s at least one such place on the Ohio River, but can’t remember where. The borders on the Ohio don’t go through the main channel, but rather along the northern shore, just like the Potomac. That makes it more likely that something like this would have happened on that river. I work on the Ohio River. There’s plenty of these things. A few years ago the Wabash cut off a big chunk of Indiana. [Hard to tell where the border is here!](https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8337272,-88.0713809,13z) It looks like [Ellis Park Racing](https://goo.gl/maps/ZXL37Jtz2q9A6KBt7) is in Evansville, IN but it’s actually in Kentucky. > [@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. I have a map on the wall that clearly shows this. I’ve owned it for at least 6 years. The Ohio River Basin also includes Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New York. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/89 "2020-02-18T19:18:57Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > A few years ago the Wabash cut off a big chunk of Indiana. [Hard to tell where the border is here!](https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8337272,-88.0713809,13z) That’s one of them. The other is not too far to the north. ---
**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 18, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/90 "2020-02-18T19:26:13Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > I have a map on the wall that clearly shows this. I’ve owned it for at least 6 years. The Ohio River Basin also includes Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New York. I’d love to see your map. Does it show this location? [That bit of Pickens Co SC that drains into the Mississippi](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). here’s a link to a better map than the link above: [This bit of South Carolina drains into the Mississippi - Album on Imgur](https://imgur.com/gallery/wZpCnyj) ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/91 "2020-02-18T20:14:24Z")
That’s what it shows. It has the Ohio River basin as the main boundary. I just assumed that bit of S.Carolina was adjacent to Tennessee. Didn’t realize it was N. Carolina! Amazing what you notice when you stop and look closely! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/92 "2020-02-18T20:24:58Z")
[This detached garage](https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8579499,-77.1267139,3a,75y,222.98h,85.62t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sqXEMFGmfky1-KFIk8uhsxA!2e0!5s20161101T000000!7i13312!8i6656) and the house it belongs to are in two different counties. ---
**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 18, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/93 "2020-02-18T20:34:34Z")
[Some of these garages](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Maine/@47.4581436,-69.226198,86m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4cb01dde1d538ad5:0xd679cc6f6720a8d0!8m2!3d45.253783!4d-69.4454689?hl=en) and the houses they belong to are in two different countries. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/94 "2020-02-18T20:39:58Z")
I had a patron once come in to apply for a library card, but based on a cursory examination of her street address, she lived in the next county over. Long story short: the county line went right through the lot her house was on. Since I could verify that property taxes on her lot did indeed get paid to our county, I issued the card. Put a great big ol’ note on it, too, to keep anyone in the future to from too-hastily trying to charge her an out-of-county fee. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/95 "2020-02-18T20:46:30Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > According to that blog post, Alaska is actually north of Washington state, even though [most maps show it to be somewhere south of California!](http://ontheworldmap.com/usa/) > > How could they get that so wrong :eek: I have to hurt you for that one. /slap ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/96 "2020-02-18T20:53:55Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > I work on the Ohio River. There’s plenty of these things. A few years ago the Wabash cut off a big chunk of Indiana. [Hard to tell where the border is here!](https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8337272,-88.0713809,13z) And when the Rio Grande changes course, it can lead to major [international boarder disputes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamizal_dispute). ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/97 "2020-02-18T20:58:56Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > All the best surf spots in California are East of Reno, NV. Definitely a matter of opinion. Mavericks is west of Reno. All the best SoCal spots, sure. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/98 "2020-02-18T22:09:11Z")
I will see TV shows set in places like Seattle where someone will say something like “I’m going to New Hampshire (or Vermont) to see my family.” or some such. Both of those states are completely south of Washington. Ditto N. Dakota and good sized chunks of Montana and Minnesota are further north. A little bit of Maine is just barely N. of Seattle. The NE isn’t as far north as most people think. The SE isn’t as far east\*. S. CA isn’t as far west. - Atlanta is surprisingly centrally located transit-wise to a large chunk of the eastern US. Hence its development. ---
**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 18, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/99 "2020-02-18T22:57:27Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > I work on the Ohio River. There’s plenty of these things. A few years ago the Wabash cut off a big chunk of Indiana. [Hard to tell where the border is here!](https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8337272,-88.0713809,13z) I think the surveyors got tired of mapping every twist and turn of the Wabash to establish a border with Illinois, so when they reached Terre Haute they just said “Screw it” and drew a straight line north to Lake Michigan. Speaking of Lake Michigan, thanks to the reversal of the Chicago and Calumet Rivers, they’re [no longer considered part of the Great Lakes Watershed.](https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dnr.illinois.gov%2Fcmp%2FDocuments%2F3_Boundary.pdf) The remaining watershed in Chicago is barely a mile wide at some points. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/100 "2020-02-19T01:11:59Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I think the surveyors got tired of mapping every twist and turn of the Wabash to establish a border with Illinois, so when they reached Terre Haute they just said “Screw it” and drew a straight line north to Lake Michigan. Possibly, although I really doubt it. More likely the border was described as being along a specific longitude south from the lake until it hit the Wabash and then followed the river to the Ohio. But the two chunk of Indiana to the west of the Wabash are down in the south, close to Evansville, not near Terre Haute. They were created when the river cut off loops by making short cuts across their bases. This kind of thing happens often on rivers flowing across very flat land and can be accelerated by human activities. It’s the reason why there are all these places like Kaskaskia on the “wrong” side of a river. The borders are fixed, but the river is not. [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=4) [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=6)