Comments on: Strange Maps: Border between Canada and USA

By: J. Steiger

J. Steiger — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:00:25 +0000

I lived in Switzerland for about 4 years and I remembered a news headliner, "Swiss-Italian border changing by the meters". Here's an acticle describing the details http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/melting-snow-prompts-border-change-between-switzerland-and-italy-1653181.html. Basically, the melting glaciers are shifting the border so that after about 140 years they finally have to make some changes again!

By: J. Murzyn

J. Murzyn — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:20:48 +0000

Your website is really interesting. There was a question about the northern most state of the lower 48 on “Are you smarter than a 5th grader”. We guessed it was Maine. We couldn’t figure out how Minnesota was the most northern point until we saw your map of Lake of the Woods where it indicated that the other shore of the lake (which I think most people assume is part of Canada) is actually part of Minnesota. The way most maps are drawn implies that the lake is the border and that everything north of the lake is Canada and everything south of the lake is the US. Not entirely true apparently. I always assumed the lake was the border. Learn something new everyday. =)

By: Christopher Holland

Christopher Holland — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:46:35 +0000

I recently seen part of this on History Channel series: The States.

Another odd border is the border of Kentucky.
The border was changed as a result of an earthquake causing a river to change it’s course and subsequently changing the border. In order to get to a part of Kentucky, you have to drive through another state. Google It!

By: Henry Plant

Henry Plant — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:37:47 +0000

cool map, but keep in mind that the climate in Northern California is MISERABLE!! I mean, I can handle park city in the dead of winter- but, by far the 2 coldest places I have ever been in my life are southern Chile & Northern California. After all Mark Twain did say “the coldest winter I have ever spent is a summer in san francisco”.

By: zeeshan

zeeshan — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:54:24 +0000

dear proud geek,
is it possible to get your email address?
seems like you are really good in maps.
Recently i am working on a screenplay,,. its about a an indian girl who illigally crossed the vancouver border in a coal train to enter america. its a true story however, i am not sure on the details. thus,
i am struggling to understand the rout..
is it possible that i get some help from you?
pls knock me if you are willing to provide me with some suggestions..
thanks a bunch.
zeeshan

By: anman

anman — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:25:43 +0000

Here’s a funny town for your border research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beebe_Plain,_Vermont

By: Heather

Heather — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:41:17 +0000

There was a governor of Minnesota who tried to sell The Angle to Canada. I don’t know how serious of an attempt it was. Apparently that was his idea of how to solve a budget problem.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:55:35 +0000

Interesting info, Josh. What about looking at how state lines were set? One I always wondered about was why Wisconsin, the northern part, is actually the UP of Michigan??? Why not leave it with Wisconsin?

And in MA, there’s a little bump in the border between MA and CT in western part, near Agawam…… makes one wonder….

By: proudgeek

proudgeek — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:16:07 +0000

Thanks, Donal! And good question. I had to look around, and then came across an excellent National Geographic article on Port Roberts. Link’s below, and I’m also reprinting the first paragraph which pretty much answers your questions:

Neatly drawing the border between Canada and the United States along the 49th parallel was a fine idea, except for one thing. When the line reached the ocean just south of Vancouver, it cut off a tiny lobe of Washington State, which was left hanging out into the Pacific all by itself. A few people almost immediately noticed that it would make more sense to assign this appendage to Canada, but somehow that never happened. Therefore, sometime in the 1850s the hardy residents of Point Roberts—Icelandic farmers and fishermen, cannery workers, and now a good number of retirees from as far away as Florida—began living on this five-square-mile fragment of the peninsula as if it were an island colony of some distant mother country. The scenery is gorgeous, and thanks to the guards manning the checkpoint on the border, life is ridiculously peaceful. But it is also riddled with inconvenience.

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0408/feature7/fulltext.html

By: Donal G

Donal G — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 01:45:31 +0000

Great stuff! Never heard anything like it. I was in Vancouver recently and I didn’t hear anything about that first, most westerly one.

You don’t mention exactly why the US and Canada didn’t endeavour to resolve these border mapping errors once they had been discovered. Was the political situation too sensitive at the time so that the agreed 49th parallel rule could not be altered in any great way? Why not change in more modern times? Would this annoy the current inhabitants?