Any remaining isolated counties?

[Grzrd]

"Dade County

Located on the "Backside of Lookout Mountain," Dade County was for many years unknown to most Georgians. Until a long-delayed state highway over the mountain was completed in 1948, the only reliable route to the county by automobile was through Alabama or Tennessee. For this reason, the county was known as "The Independent State of Dade.""

http://dadecounty.georgia.gov/05/article/0,2680,9004130_7355477_11810447,00.html

2 closely related questions:

1. Until 1948, Dade County, GA had neither a U.S. nor state route connection to the rest of Georgia.  Is there a county anywhere in the country that has that situation today?

2. If not, is there a county anywhere in the country that got "connected" after 1948, i.e. after Dade County?

[Brandon]

One could include all five counties of Hawai'i (for the obvious reasons for four of them).
Otherwise, I think it is just parts of counties that are unreachable via any sort of route connection.

[agentsteel53]

when was OR-82 built to serve Wallowa County?  it is the only way to get into the county by road from Oregon.  OR-3 comes in from Washington, and I believe there is a road coming in from Idaho as well.

[corco]

when was OR-82 built to serve Wallowa County?  it is the only way to get into the county by road from Oregon.  OR-3 comes in from Washington, and I believe there is a road coming in from Idaho as well.

That one came to mind for me, as well. What I can say for sure is that by sometime in the late 40s, Oregon 82 and Oregon 3 had both been constructed, but Oregon 82 was fully paved while 3 was not.

I'd wager that given the insane terrain Oregon 3 had to pass through compared to the relatively simple terrain for Oregon 82 that 82 had to have come first. The road into Idaho (Oregon 86/Idaho Power Road/Idaho 71) wasn't constructed until they built Brownlee Dam in the late 50s, if I recall correctly.

This is Washington 129/Oregon 3- most of what you'd see here is Oregon 3. You can see the road in the distance winding its way back up the mountain in the same switchbacky goodness as it went down

[agentsteel53]

I didn't realize the third road was an Oregon state highway.  A few years ago when my friend Dan and I went to clinch that county, we tried to find out how to get from Joseph to that third road and was just plain unable to.  We ended up backtracking all the way out on 82 again.

[corco]

You can do it- I've done it once on a family vacation (my Dad said it would be a shortcut to get from Pendleton back to McCall. Needless to say, mother was not too thrilled) and that road is nasty. You have to take the road almost all the way to Imnaha and then follow a forest service road that's full of switchbacks and hairpins- you couldn't average more than 20 or so on it for sure. You pick up 86 about 2/3 of the way to Idaho. 86 runs from Baker to the state line.

[agentsteel53]

yeah there was no way we would've found that - didn't have a map nearly detailed enough!  even looking at Google Maps I can't follow it without getting lost among a twisty maze of forest roads, all identical.

[corco]

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.

[agentsteel53]

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. 

[Michael in Philly]

To answer your counties-connected-after-1948 question:

Richmond County, N.Y. (better known as Staten Island, one of the boroughs of New York City) had no road connections to the rest of the world until the late 20s - three bridges to New Jersey were built in the late 20s/early 30s.  The first road connection to the rest of New York was the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, opened in 1964.

Also Nantucket County, Mass. (Nantucket Island) and Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard and smaller islands) have no road connections to points off-island.

There may be other places; the map in my head starts in the Northeast, and Staten Island is where my parents grew up.

[oscar]

when was OR-82 built to serve Wallowa County?  it is the only way to get into the county by road from Oregon.  OR-3 comes in from Washington, and I believe there is a road coming in from Idaho as well.

Yep, the unnumbered highway along the Idaho side of the Snake River crosses over the Hells Canyon Dam into Wallowa County, then quickly dead-ends there.  Indeed, that was how I clinched that county.

Back to the original question, several Alaska boroughs have no road connection to the rest of the state.  Many of them are served by Alaska Marine Highway ferries (at least occasionally in the summer), but one (the Northwest Arctic Borough, with Kotzebue as its "county seat") doesn't even have a ferry link.  Ditto for several of the Census Bureau-designated "census areas" in western Alaska, if you want to treat them as county equivalents as well. 

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.   

[Grzrd]

To answer your counties-connected-after-1948 question:
Richmond County, N.Y. (better known as Staten Island, one of the boroughs of New York City) had no road connections to the rest of the world until the late 20s - three bridges to New Jersey were built in the late 20s/early 30s.  The first road connection to the rest of New York was the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, opened in 1964.

I see the makings of a great trivia question.  Limit question to "Contiguous 48" (no offense Alaska and Hawai'i; just trying to forge a "winner").  Also exclude all island counties not currently connected to mainland/ one another by bridge/tunnel already in existence or previously existed [a "red herring"):

Name last county in country to come out of "isolation" and be connected to the rest of its state by a state or federal route?  If in part of country with very few New Yorkers, I suspect very few would guess Staten Island (or even know that it is Richmond County), a borough of NYC! [assuming no post-1964 bridge connection is identified].

[huskeroadgeek]

Even today, Dade County, GA still seems isolated from the rest of the state considering that I-24 and I-59 are the two major routes through the county and neither access the rest of the state directly through the county. On a slightly different topic, I-24 going through the county from Tennessee is somewhat of an oddity. I think it's the only place where a 2di leaves and then re-enters the same state. It's even more odd when you consider that much of the I-24 traffic is eventually headed for I-75 south towards Atlanta, which means you cross the TN-GA border 3 times.

[TheStranger]

I think it's the only place where a 2di leaves and then re-enters the same state.

I-86 is slated to do this eventually with both Pennsylvania and New York; I-87 once did this when it ran along today's I-684.

[bugo]

I think it's the only place where a 2di leaves and then re-enters the same state.

I-86 is slated to do this eventually with both Pennsylvania and New York; I-87 once did this when it ran along today's I-684.

I-49 will leave Arkansas north of Texarkana and reenter the state at the Red River.

[Scott5114]

I think it's the only place where a 2di leaves and then re-enters the same state.

I-86 is slated to do this eventually with both Pennsylvania and New York; I-87 once did this when it ran along today's I-684.

I-49 will leave Arkansas north of Texarkana and reenter the state at the Red River.

Really? Texas is okay with that?

[florida]

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

[Grzrd]

Even today, Dade County, GA still seems isolated from the rest of the state considering that I-24 and I-59 are the two major routes through the county and neither access the rest of the state directly through the county.

I believe we have firmly established the point, but I want to make sure in framing the potential trivia question: "Is Dade County, GA the only county in the country with two 2di Interstates in which neither 2di Interstate accesses the rest of the state?

[bugo]

I-49 will leave Arkansas north of Texarkana and reenter the state at the Red River.

Really? Texas is okay with that?

Yes, I-49 will enter Texas for a few miles, just as US 71 does now.  I don't know why they're routing it that way, but that's the plan.  Doesn't make much sense to me either.

[Grzrd]

I-49 will leave Arkansas north of Texarkana and reenter the state at the Red River.

Really? Texas is okay with that?

Yes, I-49 will enter Texas for a few miles, just as US 71 does now.  I don't know why they're routing it that way, but that's the plan.  Doesn't make much sense to me either.

Here's a little more info:

Re: Future I-49 - Texas / Texarkana
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2010, 11:01:03 AM » Quote Modify Remove 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With recent flurry of info re Texarkana and Bella Vista I-49 projects (plus Missouri info re 71 to I-49 upgrade between Interstates 44 and 435), I got in an email questioning mood.  I asked TxDOT about the Texas section because I remember reading in one of the threads that the current official Arkansas highway map shows the future route of I-49 through Texas.  [Map here: http://www.arkansashighways.com/planning_research/mapping_graphics/statehwymap_state09.PDF]

BTW the map also shows "new terrain" Future I-49 continuing northward in Arkansas from Red River state line crossing all the way up to a junction with U.S. 71 just north of Wilton.

Pertinent part of the (not surprising) reply:

"TxDOT has had a longstanding working relationship with AHTD, especially in the Texarkana area where so many of our highways meet.  I-49 has been planned and discussed between the two agencies for many years. 

The current status of the project is that AHTD is waiting on the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to finish its portion of the project between Shreveport and the Arkansas State Line before it can finish I-49 to the Louisiana State Line.  However, funding for I-49 through western Arkansas is limited and TxDOT has no funding available at this time for the project in Bowie County now or in the foreseeable future.  So, yes, I-49 is on the radar, but it is a distant blip unless some type of funding can be appropriated for its construction."

[Michael in Philly]

Even today, Dade County, GA still seems isolated from the rest of the state considering that I-24 and I-59 are the two major routes through the county and neither access the rest of the state directly through the county.

I believe we have firmly established the point, but I want to make sure in framing the potential trivia question: "Is Dade County, GA the only county in the country with two 2di Interstates in which neither 2di Interstate accesses the rest of the state?

Erie County, Pennsylvania, has three two-digit Interstates (79, 86 and 90) and two of the three (86 and 90) don't access the rest of the state.

[Grzrd]

I believe we have firmly established the point, but I want to make sure in framing the potential trivia question: "Is Dade County, GA the only county in the country with two 2di Interstates in which neither 2di Interstate accesses the rest of the state?

Erie County, Pennsylvania, has three two-digit Interstates (79, 86 and 90) and two of the three (86 and 90) don't access the rest of the state.

My wallet thanks you very much.  

[realjd]

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.

[Brandon]

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

For that matter, the entire seven counties of Michigan's Upper Peninsula were not connected by any road to the Lower Peninsula until 1957.  Of course, there was the way around Lake Michigan via Chicago, but it was isolated from the rest of the state.

[Grzrd]

To answer your counties-connected-after-1948 question:

Richmond County, N.Y. (better known as Staten Island, one of the boroughs of New York City) had no road connections to the rest of the world until the late 20s - three bridges to New Jersey were built in the late 20s/early 30s.  The first road connection to the rest of New York was the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, opened in 1964.

For that matter, the entire seven counties of Michigan's Upper Peninsula were not connected by any road to the Lower Peninsula until 1957.  Of course, there was the way around Lake Michigan via Chicago, but it was isolated from the rest of the state.

Virginia's Accomack and Northampton counties were connected to the rest of Virginia when the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel opened on April 15, 1964.  The upper deck of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened on Nov. 21, 1964.  Narrow escape for Richmond County.

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.