Smallest Control City

[NE2]

If you follow signs for Delaware Water Gap you end up in the borough (it's on the signs for exit 310). Thus the control city is referring to the borough.

[SD Mapman]

Belvidere, SD; pop. 49. SD always has the next junction as a control "city".

[NE2]

Belvidere, SD; pop. 49. SD always has the next junction as a control "city".

On this sign:

only Rapid City is a control city.

[Alps]

If you follow signs for Delaware Water Gap you end up in the borough (it's on the signs for exit 310). Thus the control city is referring to the borough.

I always got the feeling NJ was "pulling a PA" and listing the last possible destination in NJ because PA rarely recognizes other states' control cities. That would make Del Water Gap a reference to the forest/park and not to the PA town.

[NE2]

I always got the feeling NJ was "pulling a PA" and listing the last possible destination in NJ because PA rarely recognizes other states' control cities. That would make Del Water Gap a reference to the forest/park and not to the PA town.

The distance sign at mile 11.3 says Columbia 7 Delaware Water Gap 11. Obviously that's the distance to the bridge, but the actual gap is about mile 1.5 and the NRA begins at about 2.7. I'm going to guess that NJDOT had no idea what the entry in the AASHTO list was supposed to refer to, so they fudged it and used the state line.

[bzakharin]

I always got the feeling NJ was "pulling a PA" and listing the last possible destination in NJ because PA rarely recognizes other states' control cities. That would make Del Water Gap a reference to the forest/park and not to the PA town.

NJ does this all the time too. 287 North is signed Mahwah, not recognizing anything in NYS. Sometimes they use bridges as control "cities". It's only recently that I started seeing "Wilmington" mentioned on I-295 and the NJ Turnpike. NYC is teh exception, but it would be criminal not to sign that (though it seems that every other exit from I-287 is signed NYC). "Easton, PA" is another counterexample on I-78, but that's all I can think of. And no, "Penna" doesn't count. NY reciprocates too. "New Jersey" for Palisades Parkway, "New Jersey" for GSP, "New Jersey" for 287 South. Never mind that you'd take those different exits to go to different places in NJ

[1995hoo]

....

Breezewood, for example, isn't a city, town, borough, or municipality of any kind. There is no Breezewood town council or mayor. ....

Sure there's a mayor in Breezewood. He lives up on top of that hill you see to your left as you arrive from the south on I-70. His name is "McCheese." 

[Henry]

....

Breezewood, for example, isn't a city, town, borough, or municipality of any kind. There is no Breezewood town council or mayor. ....

Sure there's a mayor in Breezewood. He lives up on top of that hill you see to your left as you arrive from the south on I-70. His name is "McCheese." 

Good one!

[formulanone]

I'll throw a wrinkle into this mess: What is the smallest control city BY AREA to appear on a BGS?

Magic Kingdom?

Which includes Bay Lake, Florida.

All 47 folks, yes; but it encompasses 22 square miles.

[NE2]

I'll throw a wrinkle into this mess: What is the smallest control city BY AREA to appear on a BGS?

Magic Kingdom?

Which includes Bay Lake, Florida.

All 47 folks, yes; but it encompasses 22 square miles.

Er, no. The Magic Kingdom is this (boundaries are a bit iffy but this is about as big as it can be). Disney World, also used as a control city, includes Bay Lake (and Lake Buena Vista).

[Jim]

Lee, MA (pop 5,985) on I-90

Does Lee fit the definition?  I think Albany is the WB control city west of Springfield, and New York uses Boston EB east of Albany.  There is a mileage sign WB just beyond Exit 3, but it has Lee on top (standard "next exit" distance used on the Mass Pike) and Albany on the bottom.

I think if we count Lee, we can also count West Stockbridge (pop 1416), which is on a mileage sign WB west of Exit 2.

[briantroutman]

I realize it's not a town, so you can't really determine a population figure, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned Cove Fort. It makes Breezewood, Hennepin, and Delaware Water Gap look like bustling metropolises by comparison.

But anyway, unless someone can come up with something that tops Hennepin, IL at 707, that would appear to be the winner. In fact with the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Hennepin having closed in 2009 (the census data is from 2000), I wouldn't be surprised if the population dropped by a couple hundred since then.

[agentsteel53]

is Cove Fort an actual control city?  I believe Utah just uses "Junction I-15", or occasionally "Las Vegas", on I-70 - and the only sign which mentions Cove Fort (except for at the exit itself) is in Maryland, mentioning IIRC Columbus, St. Louis, Denver, and Cove Fort. 

I consider that a bit of a gimmicky sign (not that I don't like it, except for the Clearview), and unless actual navigationally useful signs mention Cove Fort, I don't think it counts as a control city.

[agentsteel53]

I'll throw a wrinkle into this mess: What is the smallest control city BY AREA to appear on a BGS?

I'll go with the aforementioned "Junction I-15". 

[PHLBOS]

Lee, MA (pop 5,985) on I-90

Does Lee fit the definition?  I think Albany is the WB control city west of Springfield, and New York uses Boston EB east of Albany.  There is a mileage sign WB just beyond Exit 3, but it has Lee on top (standard "next exit" distance used on the Mass Pike) and Albany on the bottom.

I think if we count Lee, we can also count West Stockbridge (pop 1416), which is on a mileage sign WB west of Exit 2.

I-90 being the Mass Pike in this area; the Lee & W. Stockbridge listings (and mileage) are more likely referencing the next interchange (Exits 1 & 2 - the toll tickets refers to it as the Lee & W. Stockbridge interchanges) rather than the towns itself.

You are right though, neither town is shown on any I-90 through nor directional BGS'.

[formulanone]

Teterboro, NJ? Just 67 residents, up from 18 in 2000.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=teterboro+nj&ll=40.869651,-74.057143&spn=0.010174,0.01929&hnear=Teterboro,+Bergen,+New+Jersey&gl=us&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.869491,-74.056906&panoid=srY5dyM4BykLFIVuEcTxXg&cbp=12,132.95,,0,3.5

[agentsteel53]

I never knew it was that small.  the only time I'd ever heard of it was when that Airbus A320 landed in the Hudson River.  one of the landing sites considered was Teterboro, so I figured if the place was big enough to have an airport that could (kinda, sorta, maybe) land an A320, it was at least a medium-sized place.

I was mistaken.

[mcdonaat]

Boutte - 3,000 people, see I-10 at I-310.

On an advance mileage sign - Parish Rd. We sign what you actually intersect, not the town itself.

[briantroutman]

is Cove Fort an actual control city?

I thought I had seen it somewhere, but maybe I was mistaken.

At Grand Junction, CDOT uses "Green River"  (http://bit.ly/1j9AuDD), which UDOT also uses at least at a few locations in eastern Utah (http://bit.ly/1fCN2mj)

UDOT then uses Salina (http://bit.ly/1j3MBPV) at the trumpet with US 6 West. In Salina, they use Ritchfield (http://bit.ly/Km0Enf) and in Ritchfield, some of the signs appear to read Las Vegas. At the trumpet with US 89, they appear not to use any control city westbound at all (http://bit.ly/1j3V71n).

None of these Utah towns show up on the control cities list, which has Grand Junction as the last city before "JCT I-15"  But looking around Street View (which is really quite awful in that part of Utah), I haven't been able to find one guide sign that lists "JCT I-15"  as its control city.

[PHLBOS]

Teterboro, NJ? Just 67 residents, up from 18 in 2000.

As someone else pointed out to me earlier in this thread; the OP's looking for control destinations for or along a highway... not just listed destinations on exit BGS'.

I never knew it was that small.  the only time I'd ever heard of it was when that Airbus A320 landed in the Hudson River.  one of the landing sites considered was Teterboro, so I figured if the place was big enough to have an airport that could (kinda, sorta, maybe) land an A320, it was at least a medium-sized place.

The reference to Teterboro was in reference to Teterboro Airport (TEB), a general aviation airport which straddles into Moonachie Twp. (pop. 2,708 per 2010 census).

[agentsteel53]

I haven't been able to find one guide sign that lists "JCT I-15"  as its control city.

I bet in several years, Google Street View will come with a "simulated velocity" slider, so you can plow through I-70 in the state at 600mph and find such a sign in just a couple of minutes.  I think right now their speed is approximately 5mph.  anyone that takes a "virtual road trip" using Google Street View has the patience of a saint.

[hotdogPi]

I haven't been able to find one guide sign that lists "JCT I-15"  as its control city.

I bet in several years, Google Street View will come with a "simulated velocity" slider, so you can plow through I-70 in the state at 600mph and find such a sign in just a couple of minutes.  I think right now their speed is approximately 5mph.  anyone that takes a "virtual road trip" using Google Street View has the patience of a saint.

I have been able to use Google Street View at 45 MPH. You have to click in exactly the right places (click far away, don't click the arrows!). However, be careful of clicking on roads that are on overpasses/underpasses.

[Alps]

I always got the feeling NJ was "pulling a PA" and listing the last possible destination in NJ because PA rarely recognizes other states' control cities. That would make Del Water Gap a reference to the forest/park and not to the PA town.

NJ does this all the time too. 287 North is signed Mahwah, not recognizing anything in NYS.

Eventually, "NY Thruway" does show up as a control "city" for 287 north. NJ is enigmatic with control cities.

[GaryV]

How about Mackinac Bridge as a control "city" on I-75?  I'm pretty sure the population of that is zero.

[bing101]

How about Beaches on the West end of I-8

San Pedro on south I-110 in Los Angeles

But those are districts.