Proposed county splits (past and present)

[empirestate]

I think we seriously need to narrow this down to proposed but never implemented county splits, or else we'll be here all day.

[froggie]

I think we seriously need to narrow this down to proposed but never implemented county splits, or else we'll be here all day.

A proposal to split the southern part of Pine County, MN into a new "Pioneer County" went as far as the 2000 election, where it was defeated by county voters.

This next one is technically a proposed "consolidation" instead of a split:  in 2009, there was a bill in the Minnesota Legislature to combine Stearns, Benton, and the northwest corner of Sherburne County into a new "Lake Wobegon County".  The bill didn't go anywhere.

[agentsteel53]

Bullfrog County, Nevada, anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfrog_County,_Nevada

[bing101]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_counties_in_California

Check this out San Mateo County came from San Francisco County.

Riverside County came from the split of San Diego and San Bernardino county

San Bernardino and Orange county were once part of LA County.

Original counties in California are Yolo, Solano, San Francisco, Tuolumne, Yuba, Sutter, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Shasta, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, San Joaquin, Napa, Monterey, Mendocino, Mariposa, Marin, El Dorado, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, and Butte.

[bing101]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coso_County,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buena_Vista_County,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klamath_County,_California

Defunct Counties in California.

[vdeane]

I think we seriously need to narrow this down to proposed but never implemented county splits, or else we'll be here all day.

Good point, especially considering the history of the east coast.  I could spend all day just tracking down NY's county history.

[halork]

I don't know if it's been proposed, but San Bernardino County could use some splitting.

BTW, how did Broomfield, CO, become its own county?

The city of Broomfield was in three counties, and it concluded this created administrative problems. So, it proposed to form a city-county like Denver. I believe it had to receive statewide ballot approval.

Aurora has also tried to become its own city/county, but the statewide vote failed. The subject keeps coming up from time to time, as Aurora also sprawls over three counties (Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas).

[oscar]

This next one is technically a proposed "consolidation" instead of a split:  in 2009, there was a bill in the Minnesota Legislature to combine Stearns, Benton, and the northwest corner of Sherburne County into a new "Lake Wobegon County".  The bill didn't go anywhere.

As I understand it, the name in the bill was a placeholder, with the final name to be selected later.  However, considering how popular the fictional "Lake Wobegon" name is in that area, I suspect the new county would've decided to go with that name.

[golden eagle]

Bullfrog County, Nevada, anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfrog_County,_Nevada

I thought I remembered hearing about a Bullfrog County years ago. But a county with zero population would've been crazy.

[amroad17]

If Bullfrog County had a population of 16-20, then any crimes committed in the county would have enough people for a jury of 12 and an alternate.  Of course, everyone would have jury duty year-round for years.

[admtrap]

I don't know if it's been proposed, but San Bernardino County could use some splitting.

BTW, how did Broomfield, CO, become its own county?

There was a serious proposal in the late 1980s to split San Bernardino County, by creating a Mojave County, CA - which would encompass roughly 5% of the population and 90% of the land area of the existing County.

[oscar]

I thought I remembered hearing about a Bullfrog County years ago. But a county with zero population would've been crazy.

Canada's Alberta province has several county equivalents (called "improvement districts") with zero population, and no local governments.  Most are national or provincial parks.  The newest one (No. 349) is mainly a bombing range.

[SP Cook]

A map set of the Virginias' county evolution can be found here:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~varussel/map1.htm

As to somewhat serious but never implemented proposals in WV, there are only a few.

After the voting right of ex-Confederates were restored, there was a proposal to rename Grant and Lincoln counties as Lee and Davis, but it went nowhere.

In the 1970s, during the Kanawha County textbook controversy, there was a fairly serious proposal to split off the less developed parts of Kanawha as a separate county.  Actually this would have been a very good idea.

There was also a fairly serious proposal to split off a slightly larger version of Huntington as a city-county, leaving much smaller versions of Cabell and Wayne behind.  It went nowhere mostly because those in the suburbs that would have ended up in Huntington county had no use for Huntington's taxes.

Fairmont has a current proposal to create a "city-county" on the lines of Lexington, KY.  Again the rural and suburban folks have no need of the taxes.

[froggie]

This next one is technically a proposed "consolidation" instead of a split:  in 2009, there was a bill in the Minnesota Legislature to combine Stearns, Benton, and the northwest corner of Sherburne County into a new "Lake Wobegon County".  The bill didn't go anywhere.

As I understand it, the name in the bill was a placeholder, with the final name to be selected later.  However, considering how popular the fictional "Lake Wobegon" name is in that area, I suspect the new county would've decided to go with that name.

That's what the news media were saying at the time.  Makes sense, as the name could have easily been changed via a bill amendment.  However, it was basically a moot point as the bill never went anywhere once it was referred to committee.