Longest distance between county seats of adjoining counties?

[hbelkins]

It's nearly 50 miles from Pikeville, Ky. (county seat of Pike) to Grundy, Va. (county seat of Buchanan) via US 460, which links the two towns.

That got me to thinking, what's the longest distance between two counties seats of adjacent counties?

The counties must have a highway connection, which would rule out, say, Suffolk County, N.Y. and whatever Connecticut county/counties are across Long Island Sound, or any of the Wisconsin/Illinois and Michigan counties on the shore of Lake Michigan.

It's OK if the direct highway connection has to go through another county (or state), which would mean Ballard County, Ky. and Scott or Mississippi counties in Missouri would count even though you have to go through Illinois to get there.

[pianocello]

San Bernardino to Las Vegas is 220 miles via I-15 and I-215.

[hotdogPi]

Tonopah to Pioche NV is 217 miles via US 6, NV 375, and US 93.

It's not a straight line, but it's the most direct possible.

Staying on US 6 gets to Ely, which is only 168 miles, but it's direct (just on US 6), if that's what you wanted.

[corco]

It's 187 miles from Deer Lodge MT to Kalispell MT- I think that's the furthest in Montana.

[Rick Powell]

Boroughs of Alaska count as counties?  Although many are not accessible by connecting road, some are.

[Kacie Jane]

After trying a couple of pairs, my guess is that Bellingham and Okanogan (195 miles) is Washington's answer.  (Increases to 268 miles during the winter )

[empirestate]

The counties must have a highway connection, which would rule out, say, Suffolk County, N.Y. and whatever Connecticut county/counties are across Long Island Sound...

Well, Suffolk County would still be in the running for its connection to Nassau County; it's 54.7 miles from Riverhead to Mineola. That's got to be among the longest for urban counties in the Northeast.

But it's nowhere near the longest statewide...
Lake Pleasant (Hamilton Co.) to Malone (Franklin Co.): 130 miles.
Lake Pleasant to Canton (St. Lawrence Co.): 124 miles.

And certainly the longest in NY, Herkimer (Herkimer Co.) to Canton: 141 miles. Herkimer County has this huge panhandle (more like a chimney, really) that makes it very unwieldy in size and shape. (Side topic: counties with panhandles.)

Maine probably has some to rival these Adirondack areas. But of course, no eastern state will be able to come close to the distances out West...

[hotdogPi]

Both urban:

Manchester NH and Salem MA are 55.6 miles away taking the fastest roads and 50.4 miles taking the distance shortcut.

(Taking the further county seat from both.)

[getemngo]

Delaware's is Wilmington to Dover.

The farthest I found in Michigan is Menominee (Menominee County) to Marquette (Marquette County) - 120 miles via M-35 and U.S. 41, or if you want to stay on U.S. 41 the whole time, 130 miles. That's a weird one because the fastest drive involves traversing Delta County's entire north-south length, and going through Delta County's own seat, Escanaba! But Marquette and Menominee counties do indeed share 12 miles of border, and it's on land.

This exact situation presents itself elsewhere in Michigan too, like how Houghton (Houghton) to Crystal Falls (Iron) means going through L'Anse (Baraga) and Baraga County's entire "height."

Wonder if there's any where the fastest route involves going through 2 or 3 or more extra counties?

[Eth]

Georgia suffers from having a shitload of relatively small counties. The best I can come up with is LaFayette (Walker County) to Rome (Floyd County) at 42 miles along US 27 (passing through Chattooga County along the way). There might be something longer, but I don't see anything immediately jumping out at me.

[hbelkins]

After trying a couple of pairs, my guess is that Bellingham and Okanogan (195 miles) is Washington's answer.  (Increases to 268 miles during the winter )

Doesn't have to be in the same state.

Just for kicks, I ran Williamson, WV (Mingo) to Grundy, VA (Buchanan) and got 49.6 miles, using some county roads in Kentucky that no one in their right mind would use as a direct route. (A couple that are marked as state highways actually aren't). The best route, US 119 to US 460, is 71.1 miles. Forcing the route to follow US 52, WV 80 and WV 83 (and not going through Kentucky) gives 83.6 miles. There's no direct highway connection between Mingo and Buchanan, although they do border each other.

[Molandfreak]

Duluth (St. Louis county) to International Falls (Koochiching county) is by far Minnesota's longest at 162 miles, direct on U.S. 53.

[oscar]

Boroughs of Alaska count as counties?  Although many are not accessible by connecting road, some are.

Sure, why not?

And we have a possible winner there, Haines and Skagway (seats of their respective adjacent boroughs).  They are about 15 miles apart as the crow flies, and the Alaska Marine Highway auto ferry connection is only a little longer.  But the overland drive between the two is over 350 miles long, most of it in Canada, through both British Columbia province (twice) and Yukon territory.

I had to make that drive last summer, since there wasn't any ferry service on the days I needed it. 

[SD Mapman]

I think intra-SD's longest is Sturgis to Bison at 124 miles, and intra-WY is Buffalo to Douglas.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Molandfreak]

I think intra-SD's longest is Sturgis to Bison at 124 miles, and intra-WY is Buffalo to Douglas.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Only if you don't count the technicality that Shannon County doesn't have a standalone county seat. Technically you could say that Kadoka to Hot Springs is intra-SD's longest distance between two adjacent county seats, at 148 miles.

[Mapmikey]

Key West FL to Naples FL is roughly 245 miles...

Mapmikey

[SD Mapman]

I think intra-SD's longest is Sturgis to Bison at 124 miles, and intra-WY is Buffalo to Douglas.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Only if you don't count the technicality that Shannon County doesn't have a standalone county seat. Technically you could say that Kadoka to Hot Springs is intra-SD's longest distance between two adjacent county seats, at 148 miles.

True... but going off of that, Rapid City to Martin is 152 miles (on numbered highways).

[Molandfreak]

I think intra-SD's longest is Sturgis to Bison at 124 miles, and intra-WY is Buffalo to Douglas.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Only if you don't count the technicality that Shannon County doesn't have a standalone county seat. Technically you could say that Kadoka to Hot Springs is intra-SD's longest distance between two adjacent county seats, at 148 miles.

True... but going off of that, Rapid City to Martin is 152 miles (on numbered highways).

I only included Hot Springs because it is the de facto county seat of Shannon County. You could count whatever you want, though.

[SD Mapman]

I think intra-SD's longest is Sturgis to Bison at 124 miles, and intra-WY is Buffalo to Douglas.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Only if you don't count the technicality that Shannon County doesn't have a standalone county seat. Technically you could say that Kadoka to Hot Springs is intra-SD's longest distance between two adjacent county seats, at 148 miles.

True... but going off of that, Rapid City to Martin is 152 miles (on numbered highways).

I only included Hot Springs because it is the de facto county seat of Shannon County. You could count whatever you want, though.

Oh... I was using Shannon as a blank, but your idea makes more sense.

[Kacie Jane]

After trying a couple of pairs, my guess is that Bellingham and Okanogan (195 miles) is Washington's answer.  (Increases to 268 miles during the winter )

Doesn't have to be in the same state.

True, but I doubt there are any interstate pairs involving Washington counties that would beat that either.

[bassoon1986]

In Louisiana I was surprised that the top 10 I found had numbers this high:

Cameron (Cameron) to Abbeville (Vermilion) is 92.5 miles
Edgard (St. John the Baptist) to Amite (Tangipahoa) is 78.4 miles
Plquemine (Iberville) to New Iberia (Iberia) is 77.4 miles
Vidalia (Concordia) to New Roads (Pointe Coupee) is 76.8 miles
Vidalia (Concordia) to Marksville (Avoyelles) is 76.2 miles
Cameron (Cameron) to Jennings (Jefferson Davis) is 72.3 miles
Plaquemine (Iberville) to St. Martinville (St. Martin ) is 67.6 miles
Arcadia (Bienville) to Natchitoches (Natchitoches) is 64.1 miles
St. Martinville (St. Martin) to New Roads (Pointe Coupee) is 63.9 miles
Arcadia (Bienville) to Benton (Bossier) is 60.7 miles


Haven't checked Louisiana to other states yet, but I'm sure some crossing the Mississippi River will possibly beat 92 trying to find a bridge between the two

[JustDrive]

I imagine Riverside, CA to Yuma also being up there.

[pianocello]

Looks like I spoke too soon about San Bernardino-Las Vegas. Turns out that it's even longer (275 miles) between San Bernardino and Kingman, AZ.

[Alps]

NJ: Mays Landing to Toms River 52.6mi - Mays Landing I think holds the top three farthest distances from other seats.

[cpzilliacus]

Intra-Maryland is probably Cumberland (Allegany County) to Hagerstown (Washington County) via I-68 and I-70, at about 67 miles.

Possible candidate for a winner in Virginia might be Eastville (Northampton County) to the courthouse of the City of Virginia Beach via U.S. 13, the CBBT, Independence Boulevard, and Princess Anne Road at almost 50 miles.  I would think it would be a national champion in terms of the toll due for a one-way trip.