# Political borders in the middle of the road **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 10, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063 "2024-09-10T15:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/21 "2024-09-11T23:54:53Z")
But smuggling is not an issue there. You mean, why did some of the town end up in Belgium? It had to do with who owned what land, and I have to assume there were not many roads, etc when they mixed up the lots like that. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/22 "2024-09-11T23:59:29Z")
Texarkana. The state line runs down a road that is literally named State Line Avenue. It likewise serves as the dividing line between Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2024, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/23 "2024-09-12T00:58:01Z")
Where the Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma borders converge, there’s a stretch of road where the west side is co-signed Oklahoma 20 and Arkansas 43. (The east side of the road is signed Missouri 43.) https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211sRV4eyVXms7QScRysSvxdiA%212m2%211d36.4993362%212d-94.6177309%213f203.39%214f8.551%215f0.417 A few miles farther north, just off I-44, the Downstream Casino is in Oklahoma, the parking lot is in Kansas, and the driveway is in Missouri. https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.0001304,-94.6229289&z=16&output=embed&dg=ntvb ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/24 "2024-09-12T12:10:18Z")
A guy we know in the Caribbean owns a home in Sint Maarten. However, the house is on a parcel of land that straddles the border between Sint Maarten and Saint Martin. The house is in Sint Maarten, his backyard is in Saint Martin. He pays property tax to both countries. The Saint Martin property tax was high because it was unimproved land, so he built a small shed in his yard. He had no need or use for the shed, which is incredibly basic, but lowered his taxes considerably. ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/25 "2024-09-12T16:54:57Z")
This is probably more common than one might think. Just a few blocks from my home there is a major street that is also a border between two towns. Town “A” is on the west side of the street and town “B” is on the east side. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/26 "2024-09-12T17:15:53Z")
Not as grandiose as these examples, but the boundary between my home town in NJ and the neighboring town runs right down the middle of the semi-major road dividing them. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/27 "2024-09-13T11:25:55Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The Virginia/Tennessee state line runs down the middle of Main Street in Bristol. > > **Bristol** is an [independent city](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_city_(United_States)) in the [Commonwealth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(U.S._state)) of [Virginia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia). As of the [2020 census](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_Census), the population was 17,219.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol,_Virginia#cite_note-4) It is the [twin city](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_cities_(geographical_proximity)) of [Bristol, Tennessee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol,_Tennessee), just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State Street. > > [Bristol, Virginia - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol,_Virginia) Geico made a commercial about that street, one with that stupid gecko. Not sure what it has to do with insurance, but whatever. > **[GEICO Gecko in Downtown Bristol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0QdmE14DOs%2F)** > > The GEICO Gecko discovers Historic Downtown, Bristol, TN/VA! Is it TENNIGINIA or VIRGINESSEE? :)www.geico.com to see more.www.DiscoverBristol.org to learn... ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/28 "2024-09-13T13:14:02Z")
There’s a handful of streets in Cincinnati that mark borders, often they’re on old township section lines from when the state was first surveyed. My understanding is that when it’s time to repave, each city decides if they want to split the cost of a single project, because that’s cheaper than doing two separate half projects. There is a case however where Norwood didn’t want to pave their side of the street and Cincinnati went ahead and did theirs, so for a year or so there was a marked difference from one side to the other. In fact in this particular case, the street is Section Avenue on the Norwood side (natch) and Rhode Island Avenue on the Cincinnati side (be sure to look at the 2019 view because shortly thereafter Norwood paved their side to not be a total embarrassment). > **[Google Maps](https://maps.app.goo.gl/3MpJ6kX3pqBR19Xz9)** > > Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps. At intersections with traffic signals, they’re Cincinnati installs. I don’t know if Norwood shares some of the cost, but Cincinnati handles the design and maintenance. Norwood does their own street signs though. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/29 "2024-09-13T19:49:56Z")
Here’s a list of streets and roads that not only lie on a border, but their name is a portmanteau of the two polities on either side. Most of the entries are on the borders of counties in Michigan, but there’s others, including Canusa St. The link takes you to the specific list. > **[List of geographic portmanteaus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geographic_portmanteaus#Roads_along_a_border)** > > This is a list of geographic portmanteaus. Portmanteaus (also called blends) are names constructed by combining elements of two, or occasionally more, other names. > For the most part, the geographic names in this list were derived from two other names or words. Those derived from three or more names are usually considered acronyms or initialisms and can be found in the List of geographic acronyms and initialisms. However, there are exceptions to this two/three rule in both lists, so it is more o... ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063/30 "2024-09-13T19:58:37Z")
> [@Yelnick\_McWawa](#): > > Part of the VT-QC border runs down the middle of Rue Canusa (cute). The border also runs right through the middle of the Haskell Free Library & Opera House, located in both Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec. The black tape on the floor is the US-Canada border. [![](https://www.haskelloperahouse.org/uploads/1/4/4/6/144680967/published/haskell-bibliotheque-stanstead-derby-line-vermont-quebec-frontiere.webp?1681313882) ](https://www.haskelloperahouse.org/uploads/1/4/4/6/144680967/published/haskell-bibliotheque-stanstead-derby-line-vermont-quebec-frontiere.webp?1681313882) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-borders-in-the-middle-of-the-road/1007063.md?page=1)