# State Borders (today's xkcd strip) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754 "2017-10-13T19:41:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [October 17, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/41 "2017-10-17T13:03:09Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > See also: [Carter Lake](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Carter+Lake,+IA,+USA/@41.2869052,-95.9337549,14z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x87938dc8b50cfced:0x46424d4fae37b604!2sOmaha,+NE,+USA!3b1!8m2!3d41.2523634!4d-95.9979883!3m4!1s0x87938fe109f2b255:0x61dadb2aa78fd75a!8m2!3d41.2904479!4d-95.9181976), a weird enclave of Iowa right in the middle of Omaha, Nebraska. Carter Lake is cool, but not as cool as Kentucky Bend. You MUST leave the rest of Kentucky and go through a different state to get into that bit of Kentucky that is Kentucky Bend. With Carter Lake, you can stay in Iowa if you use a boat. [sub]I know you know that, I’m just speaking to the teeming millions who don’t[/sub] ---
**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:** [October 17, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/42 "2017-10-17T13:13:11Z")
He says that Long Island ought to be given to some other state (which I think is defensible), but it seems much more obvious that Staten Island ought to be part of New Jersey – look at it. It hugs the New Jersey shoreline, separated only by the narrow Arthur Kill and the Kill van Kull. The closest it comes to either New York State or New York city is its eastmost point, opposite Brooklyn across the Verrazano Narrows. It wasn’t until 1959 that they could build a bridge across that gap – the longest bridge in the Americas – to make the only physical join between the Island and the rest of the city. But the island is connected to New Jersey by several bridges. If you drive on the Island, it even _feels_ more like New Jersey than any of the New York Boroughs. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/43 "2017-10-17T19:54:49Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > When I lived within walking distance of the MD-PA border, it certainly was. > > Color me confused as well. **furryman** , would you care to enlighten us as to which part of Maryland is somehow north of the Mason-Dixon line? Oops, got it backwards, Calvert and Penn originally agreed on 40 degrees latitude north, then the states compromised by hiring Mason and Dixon who put the line at 38 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/44 "2017-10-17T21:16:35Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I’m still annoyed that Michigan got the UP. Let it be the state of Superior or merge it with Wisconsin, m’kay? And Mackinac Island is part of the UP!! Yeah, and either Minnesota or a newly-edited-to-include-UP Wisconsin would make more sense than Michigan to include Isle Royale. Admittedly, it’s pretty much governed federally as a park, but it’s still technically Michigan. Oh, and the yooper accent is closer to that of Northern Wisconsin than to the rest of Michigan, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/45 "2017-10-17T23:56:14Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Oops, got it backwards, Calvert and Penn originally agreed on 40 degrees latitude north, then the states compromised by hiring Mason and Dixon who put the line at 38 degrees. No. Or, not quite (only a bit true). Maryland was originally granted land to the north of the Potomac River up to the 40th parallel (1632). In 1681, Charles II granted William Penn a colony that was supposed to have it’s southern border as Maryland’s northern border, but the map being used was incorrect geographically, so the description of the border did not match the 40th Parallel. Attempts to resolve the dispute over the border were undermined when Charles granted Penn the counties along the Delaware estuary that later became the colony of Delaware; Maryland thought those counties belonged properly to Maryland. The dispute again was theoretically resolved in 1732, when Lord Baltimore (Charles Calvert) reached an agreement with the sons of Penn. However, Lord Baltimore then repudiated the agreement on the basis that the paper he signed didn’t match what he thought he had agreed to. A minor “war” was fought over the border. Later, when the Court of Chancery in England found in favor of the 1732 agreement, the then Lord Baltimore (Frederick Calvert) agreed to accept the settlement, and he and the Penn heirs agreed to have Mason and Dixon survey the negotiated borders between PA, DE and MD. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/46 "2017-10-18T00:11:15Z")
Boston Corners NY is just a sad case of a great opportunity gone wrong. It is a bit of MA (In the lower western corner) that was given to NY because of the mountain range and it made it difficult for Massachusetts to effectively govern it. It would have been a great ‘no man’s land’, where MA gave it up and no state claimed it. It could have been a place where state laws do not apply, a awesome little spot for lots of fun stuff. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/47 "2017-10-18T01:18:37Z")
Actually, Minnesota/Ontario shoulda been cut off around the Iowa line. Most of us would feel more at home a few clicks north. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/48 "2017-10-18T01:52:56Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > We’d be fine with being part of Wisconsin. At least they’d be more apt to include us on state maps. > > Er… what? I gotta assume you were in the far eastern part of the UP. The vast majority is way more Wisconsiny than Michigany. Packers, pickled eggs, cheese curds. Culturally, we’re northern Wisconsin. I’m reminded of the old ads for WGBA Channel 26 out of Green Bay, “…with translator stations in Crystal Falls, Iron Mountain, Felch, and Gwinn, Michigan.” I always wondered about those Felchers… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/49 "2017-10-20T17:28:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > He says that Long Island ought to be given to some other state (which I think is defensible), but it seems much more obvious that Staten Island ought to be part of New Jersey – look at it. It hugs the New Jersey shoreline, separated only by the narrow Arthur Kill and the Kill van Kull. The closest it comes to either New York State or New York city is its eastmost point, opposite Brooklyn across the Verrazano Narrows. It wasn’t until 1959 that they could build a bridge across that gap – the longest bridge in the Americas – to make the only physical join between the Island and the rest of the city. But the island is connected to New Jersey by several bridges. > > If you drive on the Island, it even _feels_ more like New Jersey than any of the New York Boroughs. There are few NYC residents, including many Staten Islanders, who would disagree. The problem would be getting NJ to accept them. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/50 "2017-10-20T18:19:06Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Actually, Minnesota/Ontario shoulda been cut off around the Iowa line. Most of us would feel more at home a few clicks north. Good plan, but possibly too late to fix that now, for it might re-open the Rat Portage War between the Rat Portage Police Department and the Rat Portage Police Department. Ne shitteth vous pas. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/51 "2017-10-21T13:47:47Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I’m still annoyed that Michigan got the UP. Let it be the state of Superior or merge it with Wisconsin, m’kay? And Mackinac Island is part of the UP!! No, the UP retains the name Michigan (where it originated), and the rest of the state becomes Inferior. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/52 "2017-10-21T14:04:15Z")
I recommend seeking out How The States Got Their Shapes on the History channel. It’s available on their web site for streaming. Borders between states are sometimes quite controversial. I’ve enjoyed the History channel series. The Western State borders were often drawn up on a map in Washington. Very little regard to any geographic features. That’s why most of them are squares or rectangles. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754/53 "2017-10-23T02:43:05Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > He’s really just joking around. There’s a ton of border fixes that would actually help. > > E.g., W. OR and W. WA should be one state. E. OR and E. WA another state, probably combined with a lot of ID. ID itself is an oddity. Big divide between N. and S. > > All over the place closely connected people are in different states just because there’s a river or something there. E.g., the people around Ontario OR think of themselves as basically Idahoans. The rest of OR ignores them, so why are they part of that state? Shoot, they are even in the same time zone as ID. > > The UP is not at all unusual in this regard. > > And, seriously, we don’t need two Dakotas. People we way too optimistic about growth back then. I have never met anyone from that area that considers themselves “basically Idahoan.” They are pretty frustrated that the state government tends to assume everyone thinks like the people on the I5 corridor, but they still feel like Oregonians. Since I have lived in that area, I’ve talked to a lot of people from Ontario. You’re right about Northern Idaho. There have been groups advocating for a separation since before Idaho was a state. I like it though. I think they should stay. It really is the prettiest part of Idaho. Besides, it’s nice to have some political dissension in a state. Groupthink is a bad, bad thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-borders-todays-xkcd-strip/798754.md?page=2)