Disconnected states

[usends]

The "Kentucky Bend" (the western part of Fulton County KY) is completely geographically disconnected from the rest of the state - there's no way to get from the Kentucky Bend to anywhere else in Kentucky without passing through the jurisdiction or "airspace" of either Missouri or Tennessee.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Bend

Similarly, there's no way to get from Liberty Island NY or Ellis Island NY to any other place in New York without passing through New Jersey.

My question: are there any other examples of completely disconnected US states?

Now, in case you're tempted to reply with something like "the Eastern Shore of Virginia", keep in mind that you can hop on a boat in mainland VA and go to the Eastern Shore without passing through another state... so that doesn't count.  In other words, I guess another way to phrase the question is, "Which state boundaries are defined by more than one polygon?"  In the examples above, Kentucky requires two polygons, and New York requires three.

So, Michigan's two peninsulas don't count (because they're enclosed by a single polygon forming the boundary of Michigan).  Angle Inlet MN doesn't count.  Point Roberts WA doesn't count.  Offshore islands don't count (unless you're aware of an island that doesn't fall within a single polygon defining the boundary of the mainland state).  I hope I've defined the terms clearly enough.  Any examples?

[mightyace]

Similarly, there's no way to get from Liberty Island NY or Ellis Island NY to any other place in New York without passing through New Jersey.

That may be a technicality as you can take a boat from Manhattan to Liberty Island (and maybe Ellis Island).  But, most maps show those islands over the water boundary to NJ.  But, is that boundary on the map the actual boundary or just drawn for convenience?

[usends]

Yes, it's true you can take a boat from Manhattan to Liberty Island.  But when you're about halfway there, you cross into New Jersey.  Then, when you land on Liberty Island, you're back in New York.

Ellis Island is a little more complicated.  When you first land on it, you're still in NJ.  But that's all landfill - the original portion of the island is still part of NY.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_island

[mightyace]

Man the Ellis Island situation is strange!

[mapman]

I believe that the the northwestern corner of Arizona, along the I-15 corridor, is like this.  The Grand Canyon is not crossed by any roads, nor are there any ferries you can take across the Colorado River (just down it towards Nevada).  I've heard that Arizona even contracts out maintenance of I-15 to Utah!

[rawr apples]

one could take AZ-89, and through a series of backroads from Colorado City, AZ you can reach I-15

[usends]

This part of Arizona is referred to (at least by Utahns) as the "Arizona Strip", because most people access this area via Utah.  Incidentally, there is a footbridge across the Colorado River, but that's not the reason this example doesn't fit the requirements.  The reason it doesn't work is because the boundary of Arizona is defined by a single polygon.  Or, to put it another way: the Arizona Strip is geographically contiguous with the rest of Arizona.  What I'm looking for are states that have exclaves (and I don't know if there are any others besides the ones I mentioned previously).

[SSOWorld]

I can't see any other that might be possible.

[Bryant5493]

Well, this probably doesn't count, but I'll mention it anyway.

During the spat between Georgia, Alabama and Florida over usage of the water from the Chattahoochee River, some Georgia politicians were trying to claim land up around the Tennessee River.

So part of Georgia might be in Tennessee (?).

http://savannahnow.com/node/457339


Be well,

Bryant

[mightyace]

A past example that I think would qualify is Massachusetts before 1820.  Up until 1820, what is now Maine was part of Massachusetts.

[ComputerGuy]

Washington and Idaho's Panhandle...part of Washington Territory in 1853

[Gars]

 Is there a state in which, to get to one mayor city of the state to another, you have to pass throught another state and then return to the first state, aside from the Arizona strip?

[mefailenglish]

To get from the Omaha airport to downtown Omaha, the most direct route is through Iowa.

Really.

[Chris]

From Marinette, MI to Benton Harbor, MI is fastest via Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. But I don't think they count as "major cities".

From Buffalo, NY to the NYC borough of Staten Island, NY is the fastest via Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to Google Maps.

Springfield, MA to Fall River, MA is fastest via Rhode Island.

[Chris]

Nashville - Chattanooga also leads you through Georgia via I-24.

Clarksburg or Parkersburg to Wheeling, West Virginia leads you either through Pennsylvania or Ohio.

[froggie]

Most of those examples are examples where there IS a road connection between the two that does not involve going through another state.

Though, with the Omaha comment, that section of Iowa that was mentioned would fit...since they HAVE to go through Nebraska to get to the rest of Iowa.

Then there's Angle Inlet, MN, which requires land travelers to travel through Manitoba to get to the rest of Minnesota.

[Mr. Matté]

Don't know if this counts but oh well.

The northern/northeastern border of Delaware is 12 miles from New Castle and where it borders New Jersey, the border is at the low tide mark of the Delaware River.  Then there were some pieces of land added past the low tide mark just south of Pennsville and north of the nuclear plant in Salem County which are part of Delaware.  In order to get to these pieces of land, you would either have to swim or walk through New Jersey (since there's no roads connecting these pieces of land to anywhere).

[agentsteel53]

I believe that the the northwestern corner of Arizona, along the I-15 corridor, is like this.  The Grand Canyon is not crossed by any roads, nor are there any ferries you can take across the Colorado River (just down it towards Nevada).  I've heard that Arizona even contracts out maintenance of I-15 to Utah!

that ain't a bad idea.  There are two parallel roads - I-15 and old US-91 - in the same strip, but neither of them are contiguous to the rest of Arizona's state highway system.  As mentioned, just several back roads.  It's much easier getting large maintenance vehicles to come out of St. George (or Mesquite/Las Vegas NV would also be an option) than to send one up from Kingman or something.

good to see government doing something efficient every once in a while.  Also good to see Utah using Arizona standards for highway signage when they do their maintenance - Arizona has the state-named shields in abundance, while in Utah they are super-scarce (only 2 known and they are hidden under more recent shields, with no state name, bolted on top).

[agentsteel53]

Is there a state in which, to get to one mayor city of the state to another, you have to pass throught another state and then return to the first state, aside from the Arizona strip?

I don't know if this counts as "major cities" but US-395 goes from California to Nevada to California, between approximately Susanville and Bishop ... the city in between is Reno, NV, with a population significantly exceeding the population of ... well, the sum of just about every town on US-395 in California, really!  

In CA, US-395 is a very rural route (with its urban sections, including San Diego and San Bernardino, having been reverted years ago in favor of I-215 and I-15).  The largest city is ... probably Victorville, right at the southern terminus?  There really isn't anything on that road!  And that is part of the reason why it's my favorite highway in the whole wide world!



Conway Pass, 7800 feet elevation, not a soul for miles and that's the way I like it!

[WillWeaverRVA]

There is a part of Knotts Island in Virginia that is completely isolated from the rest of Virginia (and by extension, the Virginia state highway system, since the nearest VDOT-maintained road is I-64 quite a ways to the north, and Virginia Beach maintains its own surface streets).

In order to get to that part of the island, one must use Princess Anne Rd (which becomes NC 615), cross the border, and drive several miles through North Carolina before turning onto SR 1255. SR 1255 crosses back into Virginia and becomes an unnumbered road that dead-ends not too long afterward. That has to be a bit of a logistical nightmare for the people who live on that part of the island...

[froggie]

Coincidentally, that section of North Carolina that Will mentioned has its only road access to the rest of North Carolina going through Virginia Beach and Chesapeake...

[Alps]

How about Juneau to Anchorage?  Pass through Canada.

[froggie]

Would Juneau to Anchorage really count?  Considering that Juneau has no land connection elsewhere (not by road anyway...if you want to blaze your own trail, that's another story), and the ferry system connects to both Whittier and Valdez without going into Canadian space...

[Scott5114]

Nobody has mentioned Point Roberts, Washington, which is on a small peninsula jutting off from Tsawassen, BC, and just happened to fall south of the US-Canada border. The town's high schoolers attend a school in Blaine, WA, which is 30 minutes away.

[usends]

The recent posts all contain interesting geographical situations, and there are many similar examples that we can continue to discuss here (such as the "Lost Peninsula" in Michigan, near Toledo).  However, none of those mentioned so far meet the terms defined in the original post.

Yet another way to phrase the question would be: if you could fly, would it be possible for you to "lift off" from Point Roberts and fly to "mainland" Washington without passing through the airspace of another state or country? 
Or from Juneau to mainland Alaska? 
Or from Knotts Island to mainland Virginia? 
Or from the Lost Peninsula to mainland Michigan? 
In each case the answer is "yes", because each of those states have boundaries that consist of a single polygon. 
But in the three examples I mentioned in the original post (Kentucky Bend, Liberty Island, Ellis Island), it would not be possible to fly from those places to the mainland state without passing through the airspace of another state.  There are other international examples, but I'm pretty sure those three examples are the only instances in the U.S.