The following link has several direct connections to the world of land surveying.?ÿ This is from a blog known as The 12-Mile Circle.?ÿ Had never heard of the site until a contributor last week provided a link to it relating to the highest and lowest points in California.
It helps to read the comments offered after the main story.?ÿ In this case, jogs and bends in what should be state boundaries.
https://www.howderfamily.com/blog/colorado-not-rectangle/
If you go to the link above, after reading it keep scrolling down and eventually you will find how to move on to another story, then continue in that fashion to find plenty of interesting reading.?ÿ Some stories do not pertain directly to surveying or even geography.?ÿ In this case, I recommend going to the next story by clicking the arrow to the right, scan through it quickly to get to the next opportunity to move on to another story.?ÿ That is all about the City of Quantico, which is completely surrounded by the US Government.?ÿ You can't get to or from the City otherwise.?ÿ The next story after that, though, is quite interesting as it explains how Bermuda was once part of Virginia although it is more than 600 miles offshore.
One story I found amazing had to do with the countries of India and East Pakistan (Bangladesh).?ÿ It's complicated, but, there are entities known as enclaves.?ÿ An enclave is one thing completely surrounded by something else.?ÿ As the final border agreements between those two countries were negotiated certain little areas refused.?ÿ Thus, there are approximately 200 enclaves looking a bit like the measles.?ÿ About one hundred of them are considered to be Bangladesh but totally inside of India and about one hundred are considered to be India but totally inside of Bangladesh.?ÿ Weird.
Thus, there are approximately 200 enclaves looking a bit like the measles.?ÿ About one hundred of them are considered to be Bangladesh but totally inside of India and about one hundred are considered to be India but totally inside of Bangladesh.?ÿ Weird.
You mean kind of like Austin?
12 Mile Circle. The northern boundary of the State of Delaware (where it meets Pennsylvania) has a radius of 12 miles from the spire of the New Castle County Courthouse.
More or less.?ÿ You can tell surveyors were involved.?ÿ From this link and the next one after it you can learn more about the so-called circle.?ÿ Note how it cuts off the tip of a short peninsula held by New Jersey.?ÿ Also, note the small bit of red line shown on the Delaware/Maryland border not too far south of the rectangular border with Pennsylvania.
https://www.howderfamily.com/blog/the-twelve-mile-circle/
The comments concerning the Utah-Colorado border were interesting. They kept referencing Errors.
1879, a line run for 270 plus miles north through uninhibited lands. No restaurants, motels, towns, roads. Think about how amazing it was what those crews did.
They even pulled out the drunk surveyor trope.
What were they drunk on?
Did they make their own whiskey?
Errors!!!?ÿ
LOL
So you look at that line and the focus is the corrections as "Errors", not how did those guys do that.?ÿ
We were looking at a ditch that was built in the 1880's off a mountain. They cut some huge trenches through the mountain by hand and horses. It's very humbling thinking about what could be accomplished by our betters.?ÿ