What I’m really asking is this:
How many U.S. states are separated into two disconnected pieces by land that isn’t part of the state and/or a body of water other than a river. And let’s say islands don’t count as pieces.
Until today, I would have said the only two were my current home of Michigan and my home state of Virginia. But I just learned that Minnesota also qualifies (note the northernmost tip). Are there any others?
There’s a piece of Kentucky which isn’t attached to the main state.
The term you’re looking for is exclave - an area belonging to another territory with which it is not physically contiguous. Wikipedia has a big list of them.
I know you said islands don’t count, but Hawaii is all islands.
Although accessible by bridges, a chunk of southeastern Rhode Island is physically connected only to Massachusetts.
In addition to the eponymous island, on which Newport is located, Rhode Island has two mainland portions, separated by Mount Hope Bay and parts of Massachusetts. (The small eastern portion includes Tiverton and Little Compton, where some of my ancestors are from.)
Kaskaskia in Illinois.
(Bolding mine)
This rule would disqualify Kaskaskia.
Wow . . . Minnesota, Kentucky, Washington, Vermont, Rhode Island . . . I’m surprised at how common this is.
Little Compton sounds so cute.
…also, isn’t part of Virginia on the other side of Chesapeake Bay?
Oh, and Deleware has a tiny piece somewhere else too.
Tim mentioned Virginia in his OP.
You are correct about Delaware – there is a very small section of land across what’s either Delaware Bay or the Delaware River (and where you draw the line between them is pretty much arbitrary) from the main part of the state, basically a bump on the west shore of New Jersey, which is within the legal limits of Delaware.
Noting one further past example. prior to the admission of Maine as a separate state, Massachusetts comprised the present state plus Maine, divided by New Hampshire into two non-contiguous parts.
There’s actually two sections of Delaware on the east side of the Delaware estuary. One is relatively large and is near the Supawna Meadows NWR. The other is the very tip of a peninsula somewhat further south. I think both of these were formed by landfills. The Twelve-Mile Circle that defines Delaware’s northern boundary extends to the original eastern shore of the Delaware River. Any extensions of NJ land into that section of the river belong to Delaware.
And yes, it’s questionable if this area is a river or a bay. Based on the map, it looks more like a river to me.
As far as Kaskaskia, there are lots of river-based exclaves caused mainly by rivers changing their stream after the boundaries are set. Most are along the Mississippi, but there are some along the Ohio, Missouri, and Wabash Rivers and possibly elsewhere.
Northern Michigan.
Litle bit of a hijack, but somewhat related:
Which states have counties located entirely on islands, and what counties are they?
My list, which is admittedly incomplete:
Massachusetts: Nantucket and Dukes
New York: Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk
Hawaii: Hawaii, Honolulu, Kalawao, Kauai, Maui (am I missing any?)
Washington: Island, San Juan
I’m sure some Alaska boroughs qualify, but don’t know the political geography there well enough.
Carter Lake, Iowa is on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River.
I would say Delaware qualifies. You can’t get to the other piece of Delaware (in NJ) without being in New Jersey.
I’d think Maryland would qualify. The entire eastern half is separated by the Chesapeake Bay. In the northern part, it’s the Susquehanna River, though, so that may disqualify it by the OP’s rules.
However, Ocean City, Maryland is separated from the ‘mainland’ by the Assawoman Bay.
“Maryland is separated from the ‘mainland’ by the Assawoman Bay.”
Assawoman Bay used to be called Assawoman Sound.
Wonder what that would have sounded like, and felt like during one of their beautiful sunsets…
Which provokes, is there a Assaman Sound?
