This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

[The Nature Boy]

I'm surprised that the State of NY hasn't assigned a state route number to the entire Thruway.

[cl94]

I guess PA is tucked in the Northeast where every other state (except for NY) is small...so it may just be psychological that it seems like the state goes on forever.

And unlike most other interstates within a state, the PA Turnpike & I-80 don't go thru any major cities either.  You can travel both the PA Turnpike and I-80 end-to-end and you'll mostly see trees and farms the entire way.  You'll never go thru an actual city, which most 2di interstates fairly often, especially out east.

BTW, mileage-wise NY does a dirty trick having contionious mileposts on Thruway as it goes from I-87 to I-90. It does reach infamous 420 miles league somewhere in Buffalo (I saw 419.9 myself) - something that would not happen if honest I-90 and I-87 mileages were used..

Even with its own mileage, I-90 in NY is longer than I-80 in PA (385 miles vs. 310).  Of course, I-90 actually passes through the Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany metro areas, so there's stuff to break up the rural scenery.

The same is true for I-87 (333 miles).

I-87 is deceptive, because it goes from nearly the southernmost point of the state to the northernmost point.

If I-90 had its own mileage and distance-based exits, it would have the highest exit number in the state (385). MA border is just shy of 386. If NY 17/I-86 were mile-based, it would only get to 381. With Thruway miles, 496.00 is at the PA border.

For another oddity: Montauk Point is approximately even longitudinally with Worcester, Massachusetts and a couple miles west of the eastern border of Connecticut.

I am referring to 420 milepost signs being popular withing some population groups.. and NY doesn't reach that without Thruway trick.

I know damn well what you're talking about. The mile marker in question is just east of Exit 50.

I'm surprised that the State of NY hasn't assigned a state route number to the entire Thruway.

Why bother? Entire thing has a shield that is posted pretty prominently and often (although rarely on the Thruway system itself).

[kalvado]

I am referring to 420 milepost signs being popular withing some population groups.. and NY doesn't reach that without Thruway trick.

I know damn well what you're talking about. The mile marker in question is just east of Exit 50.

Actually I didn't see 420 on westbound side last month; but 419.9 was there..

[ghYHZ]

Nova Scotia is Canada's second smallest province but still it's 500 miles from tip to tip. Rotate the province on Yarmouth at the southern tip and it would stretch to Long Island NY.

[hbelkins]

Speaking of West Virginia, I've seen a list of state capitals that are closer to the eastern panhandle than is Charleston. I know it includes Harrisburg, Annapolis, Dover and Richmond. I think possibly Trenton as well?

[SP Cook]

Speaking of West Virginia, I've seen a list of state capitals that are closer to the eastern panhandle than is Charleston. I know it includes Harrisburg, Annapolis, Dover and Richmond. I think possibly Trenton as well?

Depends on if you use road mileage or "as the crow flies".   This likewise applies to Raleigh.  If you consider first level jurisdictions and not just states, it is also closer to DC city hall. 

Both of WV's panhandles are the result of tortured history and politics from centuries ago.  Most people living there would be much better served by the states they naturally really belong in.

[doorknob60]

Boise has a larger city population than Salt Lake City (216,282 vs. 191,180).
San Diego, CA is farther east than part of the Oregon-Idaho border (though the two are at roughly the same longitude).

[Max Rockatansky]

The buoy at the Southern Most Point at the south end of Whitehead Street in downtown Key West isn't the southern most point.  The Trumam Annex portion of the Navy Base directly west of the buoy is more to the south.  But the Truman Annex is actually dredge land fill and the end of Whitehead Street would have been the southern most point prior. 

[Rothman]

Boise has a larger city population than Salt Lake City (216,282 vs. 191,180).

I've known a bunch of families that have moved from SLC to Boise.

[Bruce]

Seattle is due north of San Francisco, if you skim their respective shores a bit.

[empirestate]

The buoy at the Southern Most Point at the south end of Whitehead Street in downtown Key West isn't the southern most point.  The Trumam Annex portion of the Navy Base directly west of the buoy is more to the south.  But the Truman Annex is actually dredge land fill and the end of Whitehead Street would have been the southern most point prior. 

Well, except that there's other land in Florida still farther south than any of Key West.

[Max Rockatansky]

The buoy at the Southern Most Point at the south end of Whitehead Street in downtown Key West isn't the southern most point.  The Trumam Annex portion of the Navy Base directly west of the buoy is more to the south.  But the Truman Annex is actually dredge land fill and the end of Whitehead Street would have been the southern most point prior. 

Well, except that there's other land in Florida still farther south than any of Key West.

Fairly certain it is Ballast Key out in the Mules.  Wrote that up yesterday on the phone, figured the odd factoid about dredging in Key West would be enough until someone pointed out the other Keys to the west when I had access to a map.

[bing101]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_County,_Virginia

Arlington, Virginia has the same population density as Los Angeles (City)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_County,_California

[kkt]

Seattle is due north of San Francisco, if you skim their respective shores a bit.

Yes, I worked it out from an old house I lived in in Seattle, 800 miles exactly south would put my in S.F. Bay.

[slorydn1]

The buoy at the Southern Most Point at the south end of Whitehead Street in downtown Key West isn't the southern most point.  The Trumam Annex portion of the Navy Base directly west of the buoy is more to the south.  But the Truman Annex is actually dredge land fill and the end of Whitehead Street would have been the southern most point prior. 

Well, except that there's other land in Florida still farther south than any of Key West.

Fairly certain it is Ballast Key out in the Mules.  Wrote that up yesterday on the phone, figured the odd factoid about dredging in Key West would be enough until someone pointed out the other Keys to the west when I had access to a map.

I still think you got it right, though, because I think the whole "point" of Southern Most Point (no pun intended) is that it's the southern most point in the United States that a person could get to from the mainland without having to fly or float to get there. I mean, obviously anywhere in Hawaii, for example, is well south of Key West, so what point would there be designating a place in Florida as southern most if they had to include places one would have to fly or take a boat to.

[empirestate]

The buoy at the Southern Most Point at the south end of Whitehead Street in downtown Key West isn't the southern most point.  The Trumam Annex portion of the Navy Base directly west of the buoy is more to the south.  But the Truman Annex is actually dredge land fill and the end of Whitehead Street would have been the southern most point prior. 

Well, except that there's other land in Florida still farther south than any of Key West.

Fairly certain it is Ballast Key out in the Mules.  Wrote that up yesterday on the phone, figured the odd factoid about dredging in Key West would be enough until someone pointed out the other Keys to the west when I had access to a map.

I still think you got it right, though, because I think the whole "point" of Southern Most Point (no pun intended) is that it's the southern most point in the United States that a person could get to from the mainland without having to fly or float to get there. I mean, obviously anywhere in Hawaii, for example, is well south of Key West, so what point would there be designating a place in Florida as southern most if they had to include places one would have to fly or take a boat to.

I believe Hawaii was not a state when the Southernmost Point monument was erected (although it would have been a territory). But in general, yes, practical accessibility is the idea of the thing more than geographical accuracy.

[kkt]

It's a photo op, actual facts are annoying things.

[vdeane]

I believe the actual southernmost point is in American Samoa (which I think is the only part of the US south of the equator, but I don't know the locations of all the guano islands).

Furthest south incorporated point is in Palmyra Atoll (which, interestingly enough, is on the other side of the international date line and was separated from Hawaii for some reason; not aware of anything else on that side of the date line, but again, guano islands).

[Max Rockatansky]

The buoy at the Southern Most Point at the south end of Whitehead Street in downtown Key West isn't the southern most point.  The Trumam Annex portion of the Navy Base directly west of the buoy is more to the south.  But the Truman Annex is actually dredge land fill and the end of Whitehead Street would have been the southern most point prior. 

Well, except that there's other land in Florida still farther south than any of Key West.

Fairly certain it is Ballast Key out in the Mules.  Wrote that up yesterday on the phone, figured the odd factoid about dredging in Key West would be enough until someone pointed out the other Keys to the west when I had access to a map.

I still think you got it right, though, because I think the whole "point" of Southern Most Point (no pun intended) is that it's the southern most point in the United States that a person could get to from the mainland without having to fly or float to get there. I mean, obviously anywhere in Hawaii, for example, is well south of Key West, so what point would there be designating a place in Florida as southern most if they had to include places one would have to fly or take a boat to.

I'm pretty sure the point of the monument is to be at the southernmost point that you can travel over land or road to in the Continental United States.   Which I suppose is still technically true to an extent...but then again even Fort Zachery Taylor is accessible to civilians. 

[cl94]

The buoy at the Southern Most Point at the south end of Whitehead Street in downtown Key West isn't the southern most point.  The Trumam Annex portion of the Navy Base directly west of the buoy is more to the south.  But the Truman Annex is actually dredge land fill and the end of Whitehead Street would have been the southern most point prior. 

Well, except that there's other land in Florida still farther south than any of Key West.

Fairly certain it is Ballast Key out in the Mules.  Wrote that up yesterday on the phone, figured the odd factoid about dredging in Key West would be enough until someone pointed out the other Keys to the west when I had access to a map.

I still think you got it right, though, because I think the whole "point" of Southern Most Point (no pun intended) is that it's the southern most point in the United States that a person could get to from the mainland without having to fly or float to get there. I mean, obviously anywhere in Hawaii, for example, is well south of Key West, so what point would there be designating a place in Florida as southern most if they had to include places one would have to fly or take a boat to.

I'm pretty sure the point of the monument is to be at the southernmost point that you can travel over land or road to in the Continental United States.   Which I suppose is still technically true to an extent...but then again even Fort Zachery Taylor is accessible to civilians. 

The only extremity you can easily and legally get to is the easternmost point in Maine. Definitely worth the long drive.

[NWI_Irish96]

Keeping with the theme of geographic points, during a trip out to the plains states many years ago, I went to the point that my atlas marked as the geographic center of the US.  It was about 20 or so miles north of Belle Fourche, SD.  I found a spot that had what looked like an abandoned parking area but no monument or anything.  I went back to the town's visitor center, and when I asked them about the geographic center of the US, their response was, "We moved it into town."

Huh?

[kalvado]

Keeping with the theme of geographic points, during a trip out to the plains states many years ago, I went to the point that my atlas marked as the geographic center of the US.  It was about 20 or so miles north of Belle Fourche, SD.  I found a spot that had what looked like an abandoned parking area but no monument or anything.  I went back to the town's visitor center, and when I asked them about the geographic center of the US, their response was, "We moved it into town."

Huh?

I bet it is quite difficult to define that point strictly. So making it about right, while providing some accommodation to visitors actually can make some sense.
Similar thing with South pole: there is a well established ceremonial point:

And a small detail: actual pole is 600 feet away.
There are also some funny stories about how monuments marking Europe-Asia line in Urals are offset to points where there is enough room for some parking, since line by definition  goes along the top of mountain ridge.

[kkt]

I believe the actual southernmost point is in American Samoa (which I think is the only part of the US south of the equator, but I don't know the locations of all the guano islands).

If you're going to count territories, how about Amundsen-Scott Station?

[busman_49]

Keeping with the theme of geographic points, during a trip out to the plains states many years ago, I went to the point that my atlas marked as the geographic center of the US.  It was about 20 or so miles north of Belle Fourche, SD.  I found a spot that had what looked like an abandoned parking area but no monument or anything.  I went back to the town's visitor center, and when I asked them about the geographic center of the US, their response was, "We moved it into town."

Huh?

[empirestate]

Keeping with the theme of geographic points, during a trip out to the plains states many years ago, I went to the point that my atlas marked as the geographic center of the US.  It was about 20 or so miles north of Belle Fourche, SD.  I found a spot that had what looked like an abandoned parking area but no monument or anything.  I went back to the town's visitor center, and when I asked them about the geographic center of the US, their response was, "We moved it into town."

Huh?

You know, I just read something where the geographic center of North America was "moved"–recalculated, anyway, to where else but the town of Center, ND.