Any remaining isolated counties?

[CityBoy1986]

I presume Accomack and Northampton counties were connected to each other by a state route prior to 1964, but I have not conducted a historical map search to confirm that point.

U.S. 13 connected them.  A ferry connected the segments of U.S. 13.

[froggie]

U.S. 13 connected them.

And VA 34 before that, beginning ca. 1923.

[Bickendan]

If I recall correctly, you have to follows signs for Imnaha and then signs for Halfway. It is marked-but not horribly well. Given the number of roads due south out of Joseph, none of which connect, I can see where you'd get lost- I don't think there's any mention of Halfway until you head out towards Imnaha. Once you're on the FS road it's fine- there is clearly one "main" road and a bunch of secondary roads- plus mile markers of some kind if I recall correctly to remind you you're still on the road.

all we had was an RMN national atlas, and I don't think that showed either Imnaha or Halfway.  We had no idea we even were supposed to take a left turn in downtown Joseph - we ended up along that loop road that goes around the lake. 

Wallowa County's unique geology does do that. I see you also inadvertently clinched OR 351 in the process -- OR 350 (currently unsigned, of course) runs from Joseph to Imnaha.

Skagway and Haines Boroughs have road connections to the rest of Alaska only through Yukon Territory, in addition to ferries.  The other boroughs in southeast Alaska, including the one for the capital city of Juneau, are accessible only by ferry.  Ditto for the census areas there, except the easternmost part of the Prince of Wales-Hyder census area is served by BC route 37A.   

To elaborate further: Not only do you have to go through Yukon to get back to Alaska proper from Skagway and Haines, but the highways (YT 2, YT 7) also pass through the northwestern extremes of British Columbia, with no possible connections to British Columbia proper except through Yukon as well. And these are Yukon highways in British Columbia, though I'm not sure if they're actually signed south of the 60º line save for their roadname (Haines Rd, for example).

[florida]

Monroe County, FL was not connected to the state road system until about the 1930s.

The mainland portion of Monroe County was connected at least by the 20's when Tamiami Trail (specifically, Loop Rd.) was built.

Stupid Loop Road had to mess up the guesstimation. :brandishes fist:

But, one has to wonder what the reasoning behind that was...there are no settlements along that route; it could've been one of those "just to say we did it" types of things(?). The only "settlement" on mainland Monroe County is Flamingo and even that's way south of Loop Road.

[realjd]

Stupid Loop Road had to mess up the guesstimation. :brandishes fist:

But, one has to wonder what the reasoning behind that was...there are no settlements along that route; it could've been one of those "just to say we did it" types of things(?). The only "settlement" on mainland Monroe County is Flamingo and even that's way south of Loop Road.

Wikipedia has a good explanation of that. Apparently, some guy bought a bunch of land in Monroe and offered to build part of Tamiami Trail through his land. The segment he built was Loop Road. Another rich guy named Collier also offered to help pay for the road, but only if it didn't go through Monroe County (and they had to name a county after him). This is what they ended up doing. Loop Road could almost be considered an old alignment of US41.

I heard somewhere that gangsters like Al Capone built houses along Loop Road since there was effectively no law enforcement there. The Dade and Collier sheriff departments didn't police Monroe, and the Monroe sheriff department was obviously far removed from the area. I don't remember where I read that though, so it may just be an urban legend.

[Troubleshooter]

So what do we do with these cases?

Northampton and Accomack counties in Virginia were not connected to the rest of the state until the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was built. There were ferryboats instead. US 13 relied on ferries to complete its route.

Likewise, US 31 was connected by ferries before the Mackinac bridge was built. The entire state of Michigan was cut in two.

You have to drive through Canada to get to the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Lake of the Woods County Minnesota.

You have to drive through Missouri to get to Kaskaskia Illinois, because the Mississippi River changed its course.

Two portions of Posey County Indiana are now accessible only from Illinois, because the Wabash River changed its course since the boundaries were established. There are no towns on either portion.

Likewise, there are many small parts of Mississippi that are now accessible only from Arkansas or Louisiana, because the Mississippi river changed course.

[Grzrd]

Likewise, there are many small parts of Mississippi that are now accessible only from Arkansas or Louisiana, because the Mississippi river changed course.

Since we are now venturing into parts of counties in search of "isolation", I thought it worthwhile to move from Dade County in NW GA to Georgia's barrier islands in SE GA.  Nine of the thirteen largest islands are not connected by bridge to the mainland and many of those have highly restricted visitation. One of the islands, St. Catherines Island, is currently used as a refuge/repopulation effort for endangered species from around the world, including a thriving population of free-ranging ring-tailed lemurs.  Located deceptively close to GA's stretch of the I-95 "The Great Drive-Through" from Florida to the Northeast, I suspect most drivers have absolutely no idea how close they are to such isolation.  Here's a link to an approximate 1-hour public broadcasting documentary about the islands: http://www.gpb.org/secretseashore

EDIT - HISTORICAL MAP RESEARCH NEEDED

Many of the islands at one time were populated before the govt. owned the land, and they had roads.  I'm just wondering if any of these abandoned roads were at one time "by ferry" extensions of state routes?

[Grzrd]

I heard somewhere that gangsters like Al Capone built houses along Loop Road since there was effectively no law enforcement there. The Dade and Collier sheriff departments didn't police Monroe, and the Monroe sheriff department was obviously far removed from the area.

Here is a link to a couple of photos of remains of Capone mansion: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/fl/pinecrest.html

"In the 1920's Pinecrest was a kind of boom town with the opening of the Trail. Pioneers were gator hunters, loggers, farmers, bootleggers, and some just trying to get away from the law. The nearest law was at the county seat in Key West. Pinecrest, just across the county line from Dade county, was a perfect place for Al Capone's home, hotel, and brothel .... However, do not trespass. No kidding! Do not trespass. Ask permission to see the ruins of the Al Capone mansion."

[SEWIGuy]

Not necessarily a county, but what about the part of Arizona north and west of the Grand Canyon?  Outside of US-89 and Alt US-89, it has no connections to the rest of the state.  Was there ever any thought to having that portion of the state be part of Utah?