Municipal exclaves

[NE2]

There's a big difference between lacking direct road access and lacking a land connection entirely (e.g. the Kentucky Bend).

[mgk920]

One must leave the City of Chicago when traveling between ORD (which is in the City of Chicago) and the rest of the City of Chicago.  The ORD grounds are connected to the rest of the city via a narrow, half-block wide corridor that runs about halfway between I-190 and Irving Park Rd (IL 19).

Enclaves and exclaves are very common in states where annexation is possible, including here in Wisconsin.  Appleton has several such exclaves, including some that are completely separate from the rest of the city, while surrounding about 15 non-city enclaves, including a couple of fairly sizable ones, one of which includes an exclave of another incorporated city (a small piece of the City of Menasha, WI).



Mike

[Alps]

There's a spot in Bergen County, NJ where one of the townships is in three pieces thanks to others incorporating pieces of it. South Hackensack.

[flowmotion]

Here's something that fascinated me today while looking at a map of Pittsburgh:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Pittsburgh,+PA&hl=en&ll=40.475289,-79.94545&spn=0.099633,0.152092&sll=40.471633,-79.871292&sspn=0.099638,0.152092&hnear=Pittsburgh,+Allegheny,+Pennsylvania&t=m&z=13

Does anyone know the story behind this? It appears that Pittsburgh was allowed to annex this land; there must have been some political deal.

[txstateends]

Maybe this counts (?).  Carter Lake, IA is currently on the west shore of the Missouri River, "away" from the rest of Iowa.  This is due to an 1877 flood, which redirected the river from west of the area to east of the area.  Carter Lake was allowed to remain part of Iowa after 2 Supreme Court decisions in 1892 and 1972.  Even though no part of the town is currently on the east side of the Missouri River, anyone on the Iowa side wanting to go there has to make their way to I-480 and cross over from Council Bluffs to Omaha, then go north from I-480 up side streets to get to Carter Lake--no bridge exists directly across from the rest of Iowa.

There are other geographic settings that have been displaced in this way along rivers before, but I think this is the only US city to be shifted like that.

[kphoger]

There are other geographic settings that have been displaced in this way along rivers before, but I think this is the only US city to be shifted like that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaskaskia,_Illinois

[Mr_Northside]

Here's something that fascinated me today while looking at a map of Pittsburgh:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Pittsburgh,+PA&hl=en&ll=40.475289,-79.94545&spn=0.099633,0.152092&sll=40.471633,-79.871292&sspn=0.099638,0.152092&hnear=Pittsburgh,+Allegheny,+Pennsylvania&t=m&z=13

Does anyone know the story behind this? It appears that Pittsburgh was allowed to annex this land; there must have been some political deal.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think it *might* have something to do with the the water supply area next to Rt. 28.  I think it might be owned/ran by the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer authority.

[The Great Zo]

Point Roberts, Washington is inaccessible without going through Canada. That's pseudo-municipal (technically unincorporated) and international.

The Twelve Mile Circle blog covers all kinds of stuff like this. There was a good article about the Strip Annexation issues in Arizona (Buckeye, Gilbert).

[Doctor Whom]

It's located in unincorporated San Mateo County, but it's owned by the City and County of San Francisco.

Title is not jurisdiction.

[cpzilliacus]

It's located in unincorporated San Mateo County, but it's owned by the City and County of San Francisco.

Title is not jurisdiction.

Agreed.  As large as the land area of the City of Los Angeles is, consider how much more massive it would be if its watershed properties in Inyo County were part of the city.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Crystal MN, a suburb of Minneapolis, has an exclave within the adjoining city of New Hope.

Expanding this to a county, the city of Glendale CO is completely surrounded by the city and county of Denver. Since those are coextensive, Glendale is an exclave of Arapahoe County.

[DandyDan]

Maybe this counts (?).  Carter Lake, IA is currently on the west shore of the Missouri River, "away" from the rest of Iowa.  This is due to an 1877 flood, which redirected the river from west of the area to east of the area.  Carter Lake was allowed to remain part of Iowa after 2 Supreme Court decisions in 1892 and 1972.  Even though no part of the town is currently on the east side of the Missouri River, anyone on the Iowa side wanting to go there has to make their way to I-480 and cross over from Council Bluffs to Omaha, then go north from I-480 up side streets to get to Carter Lake--no bridge exists directly across from the rest of Iowa.

There are other geographic settings that have been displaced in this way along rivers before, but I think this is the only US city to be shifted like that.

I don't think it counts, although functionally, Carter Lake is an exclave of Iowa.  I read somewhere that what is now Carter Lake was technically part of Council Bluffs once, probably before the Supreme Court made its decision.

Actually, if you want to take the shortest route from Council Bluffs to downtown Carter Lake, you have to go through Carter Lake twice.  Abbott Drive, which is basically the road from downtown Omaha to Eppley Airfield, goes through Carter Lake on the way there, but Abbott Drive in Carter Lake doesn't connect to any other street in Carter Lake.  I believe they have a restaurant, a hotel, and a piece of public art which connects to the Carter Lake portion of Abbott Drive (which is Iowa Highway 165, Iowa's shortest state highway).  You have to reenter Omaha and then turn left (west) at either Avenue H or Locust Street to get to the main portion of Carter Lake.  One other thing I don't think people in Omaha knew in general, unless they went to the Anchor Inn, is that Freedom Park Drive used to go through Carter Lake and wasn't connected to either Abbott Drive or the Locust Street-Avenue H combo, but then last year's Missouri River flood killed that road for good.  Freedom Park Drive is closed the moment it enters Carter Lake now.  Carter Lake is just plain weird.