I fully understand how the automatic association of bagpipes with Scotland or Ireland occurs. But merely the contents of this Wiki article is enough to show how mistaken it is! 
This is reminiscent of an observation I’ve recently made about Paris Metro maps (!).
If you look at very early historical maps of Paris, they tend to be aligned such that the Seine runs horizontally right-left across the page. Since the river actually runs SE-NW past the Ile de la Cité, that skews north out by about 45 degrees. It appears that in about 1700 there was a decisive shift in style that then aligned Parisian maps to north rather than the river.
Jump forward to today. Unlike in London, where the official Tube map has become universal, Parisians don’t quite seem able to agree on a layout for Metro maps. Many of the versions acknowledge Beck’s principles, but there’s a major split in the designs: does Line 1 run horizontally (as an analogue of the Central Line) or at 45 degrees?
I find it amusing that they’re essentially dithering over the same design issue that their cartographic predecessors evidently worried about three centuries ago.
Actually, Abe was never an Ohioan, but was an Indiana resident from 1816 (when his family moved from his birthplace of Hodgenville, KY) until 1830 (when the future president relocated to Illinois). In anticipation of the coming bicentennial of the Great Emancipator’s 1809 birth, the Hoosier State is currently placing “Lincoln’s Boyhood Home” signs at 66 boundary crossings.
Washoe is the name of the county which contains both the city of Reno and the Nevada portion of the CalNeva resort. On a related note:
Jacksonville’s government is consolidated with that of Duval County.
Be careful to avoid confusing the old Northwest Territory of the United States with the still-extant Northwest Territories of Canada.
In the northern part of the state, Vermilion spans Lorain and Erie counties. I also remember reading (can’t find a cite) that the Vermilion school district served part of a third county, or that some residents of Vermilion had to go to a third county for their education.
At any rate, Erie County’s seat is Sandusky, but to the west, there is a Sandusky County (the seat is Fremont). Similar confusions in Ohio geography:
[ul]Toledo is the seat of Lucas County, while the village of Lucas is in Richland County.[/ul]
[ul]Bellefontaine (pronounced Bell-FOUNT-ain) is the seat of Logan County, while Logan is the seat of Hocking County.[/ul]
[ul]Cincinnati is the seat of Hamilton County, while Hamilton is the seat of Butler County.[/ul]
[ul]Lebanon is the seat of Warren County, while Warren is the seat of Trumbull County.[/ul]
[ul]There is a county seat named Washington Court House, as well as a Washington County. However, Washington County’s seat is Marietta, while the courthouse in Washington Court House serves residents and scofflaws of Fayette County.[/ul]
Speaking of hijacks and coincidents, keep in mind that that particular date will also be the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth. Talk about your influential moments.
xo, C.
An auspicious day.
English writers/scholars C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley died on the same day and year, which is usually remembered for another reason.
They both died on that day? I knew about C.S. Lewis, but not about Huxley, unless I’d just forgotten.
Not many remember when Audrey Hepburn died either – though certainly not as memorable a day.
School districts in Ohio are independent governmental entities and their boundaries frequently deviate from underlying county/city/township boundaries.
I once created a Wikipedia page of a hundred or so oddities in the naming of Ohio cities and counties, but it was deleted as being trivial.
Although Washington Court House has always been known by that name, until a couple of years ago the official name of the city was the “City of Washington.” Then they adopted a new charter with the name that everyone had been using all along.
Texas is the same way. About the only thing you can count on is, if there is a city and county with the same name, and that name is not “Dallas”, then they are nowhere near each other.
The southernmost state is Hawaii. The nation closest to the US that doesn’t border it is Russia.
The three countries nearest to Canada, however, are the United States, France, and Denmark.
Ohio isn’t quite that bad. Athens is, at least, the seat of Athens County.
Denmark, because of Greenland, and France, because …?
[QUOTE=Polycarp]
New York has a couple, all AFAIK villages (= “towns” elsewhere, i.e., municipalities smaller than cities):
[ul][li]Saranac Lake – Franklin and Essex Counties[/li][li]Keeseville – Clinton and Essex Counties[/li][li]Unadilla – Otsego and Delaware Counties[/li][li]Gowanda – Erie and Cattaraugus Counties[/li][li]Earlville – Madison and Chenango Counties[/li][li]Dolgeville – Herkimer and Fulton Counties[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
If I may add another: Sioux Falls, SD is in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties.
I think that (a) the Bahamas are often regarded as beating out Russia by a few miles and (b) it depends to a great deal on your definition of “neighboring.”
Day late and a dollar short, but:
Both Denver and Broomfield are consolidated city/county governments. Broomfield was in four(!) counties before it consolidated.
Aurora, which some anticipate will be the largest city in the state in 20 or 40 years, is in three counties. It will probably not consolidate, as it is not subject to the Poundstone Amendment until it does, and can continue to gobble land and population. This didn’t matter for Broomfield; they just wanted to neaten up government.
Big Diomede island (Russia) and Little Diomede island (Alaska, USA) are less than 2.25 miles apart. Google Maps
I believe that the nearest pieces of US and Bahamas land are quite a bit further apart than that (Florida coast, Bimini). 60 miles at least
Kentucky’s two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington, have consolidated city/county governments; the county line is the same as the city limits. Lexington was one of the first in the nation to consolidate; in 1973.
In reference to the Kentucky Bend:
Source: Kentucky Educational Television series Kentucky Life
Wow - I grew up around there and never knew that! Since the city is on all of my balto county maps, I always assumed it was included… :o
Imagine a phone call placed from a West Coast state to an East Coast state-
WC: What time is it?
EC: 2:50.
WC: Oh, I better go- I only have 10 minutes to get to my 2 o’clock appointment.
