And it cannot possibly be true for all days of the year. The terminator changes with each day, as the sun travels more northerly or southerly during the year. :rolleyes:
The two are identical. :rolleyes:
Just out of curiosity, I know Virginia has a number of independent cities which are not part of (though sometimes surrounded by) any county. And there are a few instances like San Francisco where a city is coterminous with the county it is in – i.e., if you’re inside the county, you’re inside the city, and vice versa. Is there any sort of clear list of which is which available?
Well New York City for one is composed of FIVE counties: Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, and Richmond. I believe Jacksonville FL is coincident with the city
All cities in Virginia are jurisdictionally separate from adjoining counties. Wikipedia has a list of independent cities, including all the Virginia ones.
I don’t know whether there’s a comprehensive list, but we can start one:
- San Francisco
- New Orleans
- Philadelphia
- New York (each borough is coterminous with a county)
I don’t know whether you can include Washington, D.C., in the list, because the City of Washington no longer seems to exist as a jurisdictional entity.
Ah … take a look at this list – it includes several “consolidated city-counties.”
Yes, and I already realized my mistake in a later post, thanks. :rolleyes:
I Think New York City is the only one exactly composed of more than one county. There are some other cities exactly the same as a county, e.g., Philadelphia. And the City of New Orleans has the same boundaries as Orleans Parish.
I’m aware of just two cases in the USA where a city spreads into more than one county, but doesn’t follow county boundaries: there may be more, but it’s certainly unusual. They are the city I live in (Columbus, Ohio – the county seat of Franklin County, but extending into Delaware and Fairfield Counties) and the city I work in (Dublin, Ohio – mostly in Franklin County, but with parts in Delaware and Union Counties).
My locale, Arlington, VA, is a county, not a city. It’s the smallest self-governing county in the United States (26 sq. Mi.).
A person standing on Memorial Bridge in Arlington is exactly as far from the Cumberland Gap, Virginia’s western extreme point, as they are from downtown Boston, Massachusetts – 394 miles. [Gomer] Gollllleeee![/Gomer]
I don’t think this is unusual at all. There are several other small cities and villages in Ohio that straddle county boundaries, including Huber Heights, which is mostly in Montgomery County, but pokes up into Miami County. Similarly, Carlisle and Springboro straddle Montgomery and Warren counties.
Perhaps it’s an Ohio thing. Can it happen / Does in happen in other states?
If I’m not mistaken, Chapel Hill, NC has fingers that jut into Durham County.
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]Dolgeville – Herkimer and Fulton Counties[/ul]
I don’t think this stated equivalency is correct. In Ohio, the two kinds of incorporated municipalities are cities and villages. Unincorporated areas of counties are in townships, which have no municipal institutions of government.
In Virginia, cities are independent from counties and “towns” are incorporated areas that are parts of counties.
In New England, counties are almost irrelevant and a “town” is the basic form of municipal government – not equivalent to a township elsewhere.
So things vary fairly widely.
Yep. A New York town is like a New England town – a local government for a geographic unit smaller than a county, together comprising all the non-city land within the state, and much like a Midwest township. But in many areas, particularly in the South, what is a NY/NE “village” is a “town,” and “village” has no political meaning. And if you really want amusing, put somebody from Brooklyn, somebody from Yakutat AK, and somebody from Harrisburg PA together and ask them to define “borough.” 
Well, in Hawaii, we have Interstate Highways, but… ah, never mind.
Hawaii is the longest state, over 1,500 miles, although there is some water between parts of it.
We’re the only state that is growing, with the Kilauea eruptions extending the Big Island’s coastlines and the coming-soon island of Loihi.
The only creek known in the U.S. that splits into two creeks that each go to separate oceans (aptly named “Atlantic Creek” and “Pacific” Creek). Maps and photos included!
Round Rock, TX is in Williamson County with a bit in Travis County. Austin is in Travis County with a bit in Williamson County. Austin will likely have land in Hays County in the next 20 years.
I don’t think this situation is uncommon in Texas at all, especially in incorporated suburbs. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is littered with municipalities straddling county lines, and I’m sure some of them have annexed land in the adjacent county.
Is New York county, in New York state, the smallest county in the country? Is San Bernardino county, in California, the biggest county in the US? Or does Alaska have larger counties?
Actually, Alaska doesn’t have counties at all. It has boroughs.
Zev Steinhardt
Appleton, WI, the Outagamie county seat, has parts in Winnebago and Calumet counties.
Brian