Dead end cities

[NE2]

If it's an open internet forum, Trump is a shoehorn.

[PaulRAnderson]

A truer statement will not be found.

[empirestate]

People really suck at reading the first post.

To be fair, it's a really long first post with several restrictions. Is this an open internet forum or a mathematics symposium?

Yeah, sorry for subjecting everyone to those four paragraphs.

[Desert Man]

No, this isn't another thread about the economic decline of urban areas.

From NY 45, the motorist bound for the village of New Square is directed to turn onto Washington Ave. But immediately upon turning, one finds this No Outlet sign. Indeed, Washington Ave. is the only road leading in and out of the village (Google shows two more side streets intersecting NY 45 just to the north, but these are only partially or unofficially opened, providing informal access at best). Like any village in NYS, New Square is a fully incorporated municipality–it happens also to be a Hasidic community, with the interesting result that at least a couple of street signs can be found in Yiddish.

So I'm curious, where else is there a full-fledged municipality that has only one route in or out, such that somebody following signs to it would encounter either No Outlet or Dead End signage? For brevity's sake, exclude any examples where the community is isolated due to obvious geographic constraints, such as being located on a peninsula or island, unless there's something particularly notable about the signage at its entrance (for example: "Welcome to Anytown" and "Dead End" mounted on the same sign or assembly).

And again, actual municipalities only–no unincorporated residential areas, gated communities, HOAs, that kind of thing, unless they're legitimately incorporated governmental entities. Even with the geographic exclusion, I'm guessing there are more of these than I think there are, especially since some states do incorporate practically every little isolated subdivision that asks to.

Yes, there are 3 Hasidic Jewish communities in upstate NY (the largest is Kiryas Joel - soon to become Palm Tree, and then there's proposed Kiryas Square), extensions of the religious community based in Williamsburg and nearby sections of Brooklyn, NYC. I do know Hasidic and ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in West L.A. and in Palm Desert close to me (specifically Portola Avenue and Frank Sinatra Drive), where on Saturday mornings, you see couples in Hasidic garb walk under a mile to the nearest synagogue.

The most desolate community I can think of is Trona in CA in the northwest corner of San Bernardino county, less than 1,000 residents in the desert Searles Valley. More isolated than even Baker, which is of similar size, that town has the I-15 connecting them with L.A. and Las Vegas. And the 10% developed/ 90% undeveloped California City in eastern Kern county, now has over 25,000 residents, you need to drive 5 miles each way from CA SR 14 and CA SR 58 to get into the city, and its area is over 200 square miles.

[formulanone]

People really suck at reading the first post.

To be fair, it's a really long first post with several restrictions. Is this an open internet forum or a mathematics symposium?

Yeah, sorry for subjecting everyone to those four paragraphs.

I think you effectively knocked out every possible example via restrictions or argued it wasn't an effective enough municipality. The average traveler really doesn't care about its town charter or who makes decisions at the smallest possible governmental unit.

On the other hand, I could stand to read better, and there's literally thousands of HOA communities/islands/military bases.

[oscar]

How about Eagle, Alaska? Incorporated as a second-class city. Only road access is via the state-maintained Taylor Highway, about 60 miles north from the Taylor's junction with the Top of the World Highway.

The Taylor Highway connects in Eagle to a local road going a few miles east to unincorporated Eagle Village, and a "tractor trail" going a few miles west to nowhere in particular, but those are also dead ends.

Tanana, Alaska is also incorporated, and is across the Yukon River from the recently-opened Tofty Road spur from AK 2 in unincorporated Manley Hot Springs. A locally-operated and rather sketchy-looking "ferry", or a locally-maintained winter ice bridge, will take you the rest of the way to Tanana. Ultimately, Tanana may cease to be a "dead end" as the highway is extended west.

The small but incorporated native village of Teller, Alaska is at the west dead-end of the unnumbered and mostly unpaved Bob Blodgett Nome-Teller Highway. There's room to extend the highway further west on the Seward Peninsula, only there's nowhere worth going to except as part of a fantasized Bering Strait rail/road crossing to Russia (but there's a whole lot of nothing on the other side). Two other long spurs from Nome end at unincorporated and/or deceased communities.

Alas, Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse (north end of AK 11), and Circle (east end of AK 6) are unincorporated.

[Hurricane Rex]

Don't kbow if this was mentioned but La Push Washington only had one road in and out of town. West is the ocean.

[Jordanes]

Would Knotts Island, NC count?

[hotdogPi]

Would Knotts Island, NC count?

First sentence on Wikipedia:

Knotts Island is a marshy island and a small unincorporated community.

Unincorporated.

Also, it's surrounded by water, which disqualifies it further.

[jp the roadgeek]

Estcourt Station, ME.  Only way in and out is on a little road from Canada or by logging roads.

[hotdogPi]

Estcourt Station, ME.  Only way in and out is on a little road from Canada or by logging roads.

Villages in Maine are not incorporated.

[empirestate]

People really suck at reading the first post.

To be fair, it's a really long first post with several restrictions. Is this an open internet forum or a mathematics symposium?

Yeah, sorry for subjecting everyone to those four paragraphs.

I think you effectively knocked out every possible example via restrictions or argued it wasn't an effective enough municipality. The average traveler really doesn't care about its town charter or who makes decisions at the smallest possible governmental unit.

On the other hand, I could stand to read better, and there's literally thousands of HOA communities/islands/military bases.

Well, yeah...my question was about something pretty specific, so it was necessary to knock out the, as you say, multitudinous other possible answers by applying restrictions. And, forgive me, but surely you don't suppose this forum is frequented by average travelers? Why, then, should I frame a query in a way that would make sense to them?

[US 89]

Alta, Utah is an incorporated town. There is only one road in or out, SR-210 which frequently closes in the winter for avalanche control.

[jwolfer]

Espanola Florida is a dead end of sorts on Flagler County CR13.  The road does continue but many people are afraid to drive the dirt/old brick road

Taylor FL in Baker County is a dead end on CR125.

Steven Foster State Park in Georgia is a dead end on SR177, which has a gap across the Okeefenokee swamp.. however it my fail criteria since it deadends at swamp/water.. but a bridge could(however very unlikely even in the heyday of impossible roads being built from then 1930s to 50s) have been built

Z981

[Hurricane Rex]

La Push to my knowledge isn't incorporated which would make it invalid however I'll leave it up just in case.

[TBKS1]

Coney Island, Missouri.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Coney+Island,+MO+65737/@36.5886078,-93.4110731,13.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87cf1fba519d745b:0xecda1a69fa3ab57d!8m2!3d36.5931191!4d-93.3971299

[kphoger]

exclude any examples where the community is isolated due to obvious geographic constraints, such as being located on a peninsula or island

Coney Island, Missouri.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Coney+Island,+MO+65737/@36.5886078,-93.4110731,13.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87cf1fba519d745b:0xecda1a69fa3ab57d!8m2!3d36.5931191!4d-93.3971299

[TBKS1]

Whoops. I didn't see that.

[cpzilliacus]

I was going to say Solomons, Maryland but then I remembered that there are side streets that form a loop from the south end of Route 2 to the other end of town to give drivers an easy way back out. Then I was going to say Mayo/Beverly Beach, Maryland but again, side streets form a turnaround from the end of Route 214.

I'll have to say Perryman, Maryland (which actually uses Aberdeen as its mailing address); there's no formal turnaround at the dead-end of Route 159.

Highland Beach, Maryland is an incorporated municipality in Anne Arundel County.  There's only one way in and out (by land at least - map).

Is this a peninsula?  I suppose it could be construed that way.

[cpzilliacus]

There is also the matter of Tangier, Virginia (map).  This is a small incorporated municipality in Accomack County located on an island in the Chesapeake Bay.  All of its narrow streets,  roads and bridges are maintained by the  Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).  The only way on or off is by ferry or by aircraft, so there is really no dead-end, but I  include it here for your amusement. There is a (modest) fleet of cars on the island, which  were presumably brought over by barge, but there's no public ferry service (and IMO it would be a waste of money to bring a motor vehicle here to visit).

[lordsutch]

El Cenizo and Rio Bravo in Webb County, Texas, both qualify (technically Rio Bravo has two roads out of it, but one goes to El Cenizo). Google Maps shows some other roads that ultimately connect to US 83, but I'm pretty sure they're private ranch access roads not open to public traffic.