The WEIRDEST Borders Between U.S. States

[@nicko5945]

Yay, the whiteboard animation is back. I love it so much and helps separate the channel from all the other geography channels.

[@General.Knowledge]

Glad you like it!

[@nicko5945]

@ one of the reasons why you have the best geography channel on yt. Thanks for all the hard work you put into it!

[@rogink]

Yes I was missing it. Before he mentioned it I was thinking of going back to some old videos :)

[@OscarPlymouth]

Yes it's nice to see the whiteboard sometimes when the topic is better served that way. We still get a nice mixture of graphics and the visual commentary. The channel is evolving very well.

[@AbdulMoiz-kz5xr]

White board animation is the charm of your channel don't abandon it​@@General.Knowledge

[@giovanni_vaz_cardoso]

I had never seen a video about weird borders between subdivisions, you should do more about the ones of other countries!

[@General.Knowledge]

Nice! I'll look into other examples.

[@sohopedeco]

I wish you could make one about Brazilian states, but I'm not aware of any situation like that around here😅

[@archstanton6102]

Yes, do this more.

[@Szchmekelo]

Fun fact, At New Madrid, near the Kentucky Bend, there was a massive earthquake. The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 were a series of earthquakes that occurred in the central Mississippi Valley, including Missouri, and are considered some of the largest earthquakes in the United States since European settlement. It was felt all the way over in North Carolina. There were three separate earthquakes that made the Mississippi River flow backward for over an hour.

[@johnhemphill1938]

@Szchmekelo Believe it or not the New Madrid earthquake was felt here in Philadelphia

[@General.Knowledge]

True! Which I guess is behind the weird border situation, right?

[@almighty3946]

@@General.Knowledge makes sense lol

[@Szchmekelo]

There's not enough discovered documented evidence to be sure yet.

[@lukasrentz3238]

@@johnhemphill1938 As shown in the map at 2:20 (Moderate here probably means intensity V on the MMI Scale, which makes Philadelphia probably experiencing III-IV back then). Though it should be noted that quakes east of the Rockies have a much larger felt area than similar sized quakes on the west coast. The USGS has published a map with some examples. The 2014 Napa Valley Earthquake (M6.0) was felt mainly in the Bay Area and North Central California. The slightly weaker M5.8 Virginia Quake (2011) was felt from Atlanta to Boston and westwards towards Chicago.

[@stevejohnson3357]

And there's a library building that's shared between a town in Quebec and a town in Vermont.

[@General.Knowledge]

So cool! It's nice that they share things rather than have weird and strict divisions that wouldn't make sense.

[@chrisuminski6037]

It's closed now 😢

[@augiegirl1]

A funny thing about Carter Lake is the Omaha airport is just northeast of the town, but the street that leads to the airport actually goes right through the town.

[@theleeunit1189]

The Wabash River between Illinois and Indiana has changed course several times leaving a dozen or more enclaves on the opposite side of the rivers bank.

[@19Szabolcs91]

It's nice to have a mix between the "live acton" and the whiteboard animation.

[@NobleGamer889]

Fun fact: there are no schools in Point Roberts, meaning you have to travel through the Canadian Border, British Colombia, The Main Border Between the US and Canada, and then into Washington State, just to go to school Edit: there is a primary school in Point Roberts but there’s no other education after that in Point Roberts

[@Neverlearnedhowtoswimay]

there's a video about the kids that do the daily commute somewhere :)

[@miliba]

If I were a Point Roberts local Id wanna have Canada annex me

[@danielwatcherofthelord1823]

I bet it's easy for the kids to skip school!

[@Takeawayjustin]

Imagine being a child of these parents

[@Takeawayjustin]

Imagine being a child of these parents

[@texasyojimbo]

The Kentucky Bend is part of a long series of boundary disputes between Tennessee and Kentucky. As you probably noticed, the border seems to dip a few miles south after you are west of the Tennessee River. The boundary west of the Tennessee River (including along the Mississippi) is actually at the correct line of latitude; the boundary east of the Tennessee River is actually too far to the north by a bit. This is because of surveying errors that were made beginning in the 1760s, when the boundary was marked between the colony of Virginia (which owned Kentucky at the time) and the colony of North Carolina (which owned Tennessee).

[@firstcynic92]

7:50. The "Toledo War" is a war that didn't happen. What I mean by that is that there wasn't serious fighting and in total only 1 person was wounded in the "war".

[@General.Knowledge]

That's true!

[@montecorbit8280]

​@@General.Knowledge Also, I believe that only Ohio was a state. Michigan was a territory. That is why Michigan has that peninsula that is attached to Wisconsin....

[@kenaikuskokwim9694]

A mule or horse was killed.

[@coolcreepergaming1012]

I'm interested that you didn't talk about the peninsula of Virginia that only borders Maryland and not the rest of the state

[@howtubeable]

Fun fact: Locals put the emphasis on the first syllable. It's New MAD-rid. Not New Ma-DRID.

[@willhewankher]

I love your face but the animation style is why I subscribed ❤🔥💯

[@RyanMariners]

Fun Fact: Mackinac Island has a state highway where it's actually a bike path, making it the only highway in the US where cars are banned.

[@toddverbeek5113]

M-185 isn’t just a bike path: it’s also used by horses and horse-drawn vehicles, and snowmobiles in the winter.

[@Lcngopher]

There are some municipal vehicles on mackinac island. They mostly stay hidden during the tourism season

[@ironiccookies2320]

I've seen so many videos of this but its always somehow refreshing to see other's take on it and I never get bored of it

[@Miagrellum]

Great video!!

[@General.Knowledge]

Thank you!

[@katherineardelean6556]

I enjoyed this video & appreciate your content overall! ☺️

[@Freezee]

I love your videos!! Just amazing!

[@General.Knowledge]

Thanks! :)

[@Freezee]

@ You‘re very welcome :)

[@mariajoaoferrazdeabreu150]

Great video.

[@johnhemphill1938]

One very interesting place is Fort Mott, Fort Mott is on the east side of the Delaware River and is geographically apart of New Jersey but just to the north of Fort Mott is a coastal strip that is apart of the state of Delaware even though this land to the north of the fort are geographically attached to New Jersey.

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

in pennsville salem county. nice! i live in south jersey

[@johnhemphill1938]

@subparnaturedocumentary I live in Philadelphia and go to Fort Delaware and Fort Mott often

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

@johnhemphill1938 excellent! alot of my family is from and lives in Philadelphia still i grew in Delaware pa and Gloucester County nj now I'm in camden county NJ about 10-15 mins away from Philadelphia

[@johnhemphill1938]

@subparnaturedocumentary Oh wow, close enough to see the city. I'm in New Jersey all the time. My family has a long history in New Jersey.

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

@johnhemphill1938 pretty much I'm right outside of camden city. nice! this is a really nice area there is alot to offer

[@jefferywienhoff7678]

St. Mary's island, part of Illinois land connected to Missouri, was a peninsula, then got cut off around 1812

[@naokaaaa]

Here in Ukraine we have Kyiv region which has 2 exclaves : 1 inside the city of Kyiv (Kotsiubynske settlement) and the 2 one is the town of Slavutych entirely surrounded by Chernihiv region but technically it's still a Kyiv region town

[@mcgeedarion]

A lot of the land near the Kentucky bend is for sale. It would be dope to buy.

[@CerryPomo]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Purchase I think the video dude got a bit of the history messed up. It’s a very weird border anomaly. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Purchase

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

Look at Tasmania's weird borders.

[@bark9396]

I'm a big fan of going to the topic in the thumbnail first rather than last

[@willhewankher]

Never seen “restricted mushroom area” on a map key before.

[@jimurrata6785]

While you were speaking about islands deeded to New York within the jurisdiction of a neighbouring state, consider Fishers Island. A place only accessible from Connecticut, with a Connecticut postal code and telephone exchange..

[@ronhubbardjr2624]

I visited the Lost Peninsula in Michigan in March of this year. There is a great restaurant there that I highly recommend. It is open from March - November.

[@alexandercampbell7903]

Akwesasne would be perfect for a Video about places shared by 2 Countries; and where the residents have dual Citizenship. Akwesasne is a town and Mohawk Indian Reservation shared by 2 Countries, a US State (New York) and 2 Canadian Provinces (Quebec & Ontario). I first heard of it last night when I looked for Canadian border anomalies that were not American exclaves or disputed territories (ie: Machias Seal Island). Hans Island off the coast of Greenland is also fascinating as it is a small rocky, uninhabited island that is claimed by Canada (Nunavut), but the Greenland border passes through it. The town portion is technically part of Quebec, and it can only be accessed via car from the American side. Akwesasne is the closest thing to a Canadian exclave in the US; and it uses both American & Canadian currency. I am completely fascinated with Akwesasne now because it is so unusual; and even most Americans & Canadians have never heard of it . No other First Nation community in Canada (or the US) has these unique jurisdiction and geographic features.

[@Roro_Studios]

Here’s one: When you’re zoomed out on a map looking at the Nevada/Utah and Nevada/Arizona borders, it looks like they form a straight line, but if you zoom in, you’ll notice the Nevada/Arizona border is about 150 feet west of the Nevada/Utah border. There seems to be no reason for it.

[@FlyWithVeiga]

Never heard of the Kentucky Bend. Awesome fun fact 🫡

[@NursePanda_RN]

Yayyy!!! The white board is back! I missed it!

[@DeepSubmerge]

I had a friend in Tiverton RI so I was wondering if that area would be on here, it was weird driving through Massachusetts to get to different parts of Rhode Island so I’m happy it made it

[@CHASEMARC]

5:27 - yep all those people who enter the USA came in through New Jersey not New York anymore

[@jeffdavis2648]

Also in Kentucky is Ellis Park - a racetrack just north of Henderson. Also thanks to an earthquake it's now north of the Ohio River & the state border with Indiana was redrawn to keep the racetrack in Kentucky

[@amcalabrese1]

Lots of little enclaves and exclaves thanks to the moving around of the Mississippi. The Illinois borders with Iowa and Missouri have quite a few. I think the strangest is that of Kaskaskia. This was a major French and later English site which during the Revolution was captured by the Virginia militia during the Northwest campaign (Virginia had colonial claims in the area). This was the capital of the Illinois Territory and was the first capital of the state, but the capital was quickly moved to a more central location. The town was down to 9 people in the 2000 census but the population has rebounded to 21 in the 2020 census. My son said that in school he learned that an Illinois constitutional amendment is not technically in force until a copy is deposited in the town but cannot find any actual evidence of that.

[@mom23wASD]

I am surprised you didn't have Michigan's 'Isle Royale' on this list. Even though the island is closer to mainland Minnesota than it is to Michigan, it is considered a part of the state of Michigan.

[@TBotr]

Interesting borders. if you are looking for examples inside other countries the situation at the south shore of Lake Neuchâtel and around nearby Lake Morat is interesting. The cantons of Bern, Fribourg and Vaud have weird borders and exclaves. (Edit: In Switzerland)

[@alexandercampbell7903]

You could also do an episode with Canada. Rhere is more stuff with the US you could talk una how Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine belongs to New Brunswick. Maine also claims the island. How tiny little river islands between Alaska & British Columbia; and Minnesota & Manitoba are weirdly divided by 2 Countries imstead of ine Country claiming the island. There is a US exclave called Elm Point in the Canadian Province of Manitoba. There are many US exclaves in Canada, but NO Canadian exclaves in the US. ** Not quite true. Akwesasne is a Mohawk community that can only be entered via the US, but is shared by both US & Canada. In fact, the residents of this town all have dual Citizenship. What is more that the borders for New York, and the Canadian Provinces of Ontario & Quebec all cut through this small town ***Akwesasne; the small town shares by 2 Countries, 1 State, and 2 Provinces There is an unabated rock of an island off the Coast of Greenland called Hans Island where the Canadain Territory of Nunavut claiims the ilsland, but both Countries share a land boundary on the Island. Wood Buffalo National Park is a giant Park shared by Northern Alberta, and a Southern sliver of the Northwest Territories Northwest Territories & Saskatchewan share some snall river islands; and the Saskatchewan-NWT border cuts through some river peninsulas mostly belong to the NWT with the isloated tips belonging to Saskatchewan. The border between Quebec and Labrador is bonkers. It just zig zags arbitrarily through uninhabited forest. St. Pierre & Miquelon is a Department of France off the coast of Newfoundland. I am.sure you can find other examples

[@eastbatonrougeg]

He finally showed his face after all of these years

[@tomreusz1961]

Another interesting one would be the Easter Shore of Virginia. It's a discontiguous peninsula that's actually attached to Maryland.

[@ronhubbardjr2624]

I live in western Kentucky about an hour from Kentucky Bend. I’ve been there several times. It’s all farm land except right at the entrance from Tennessee which is where the two families live.

[@lisasmith5422]

Great Channel - just saw it for the first time - I've always been fascinated by this kind of info - I just saw your vid on different states - comparative info etc - here's an idea - one of the reasons that counties are so small in the eastern states compared to the western states - is kind of obvious once you think about it - those states/counties were formed way back when transportation was mostly still horse & buggy or maybe train - and a lot of people actually had to walk because they had no horse(s) - so yeah, counties needed to be smaller as a matter of practicality - cheers 😎

[@Almost_Kevin]

Louisiana and Mississippi have quite a few exclaves within one another due to changes in the course of the Mississippi River over time. Though not a geographic exclave, the town of Hyder, Alaska is accessible by road only from Stewart, British Columbia, Canada. All telephones in Hyder have Stewart BC numbers. Calls from Hyder to the state capital, Juneau, are technically international calls. Electricity in Hyder is provided by BC Hydro. The Stewart fire company serves Hyder as well, although they are trying to reestablish a fire department in Hyder.

[@outerheaven8797]

There's the border between Kansas and Missouri where 2 Kansas Cities exist next to each other.

[@kenaikuskokwim9694]

The locals pronounce it "New MAD-rid". This is common-- several states have a "New BER-lin", and Minnesota's New Prague rhymes with "vague". The most famous cases are Los Angeles and Notre Dame University. Oh, and always pronounce the S in Saint Louis, but never in Louisville. (Two boats leaving those cities would meet at Kentucky Bend!)

[@GreenIslander100]

The issue with Ellis Island goes back to an interstate compact between New York and New Jersey. Though really it goes back even further to when England took over the New Netherlands colony from the Dutch. Charles II gifted New Netherlands to his brother James, the Duke of York as a "proprietary colony" that James had complete control of. James immediately gifted all the lands between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to two men from the Isle of Jersey who sheltered the two princes after their father was beheaded and got them to safety in France. The charter he gave them said that New Jersey's territory ended at the high-water mark in New York harbor, and that "all the islands of the harbor" belonged to New York. New Jersey later claimed that Staten Island should be theirs because it wasn't fully "in" New York harbor. New York's claim was that the charter mentions "islands of the harbor" not "islands in the harbor." And that Staten Island was "of" the harbor. New Jersey tried suing over the issue in the early 1800s, but they dropped the case. A bigger issue had come up with the completion of the Erie Canal, which made New York the most important harbor on the east coast. The problem was all the docks on the Jesey side stuck out into New York territory, so New Jersey couldn't collect taxes from the docks. In 1833 they signed an interstate compact with New York giving up their claim on Staten Island, and settling the northern border with New York, in exchange for New York giving them jurisdiction over all the lands on their side of the midpoint of the Hudson River and New York Harbor. With the stipulation that Ellis Island and Liberty Island (which had different names at the time) would remain part of New York even though they were on the New Jersey side. Ellis Island had already been expanded a bit at that point. But the 1998 Supreme Court decision said that all further expansion after the 1833 compact, was done on New Jersey land and so was part of New Jersey.

[@rafaelh2065]

He cute hehe

[@matthewwasser5621]

There is a part of Verginia that that is separated from the rest of the state by Maryland. I think it is on a peninsula that is part of Maryland.

[@mirko1382]

In Canada the islands in the Hudon Bay & James Bay belong to the territory of Nunavut, even though they are closer to both Ontario and Quebec .

[@OttoKreml]

You know you've studied too much medicine when all you can see from the thumbnail is a hernia.

[@ren5731]

I can't believe you didn't mention the Northwest Angle in Minnesota. :(

[@andycockrum1212]

It’s cause Kentucky bend is way better. Yankees seethe at our cool rebel borders

[@jonasdavies1806]

Make video about weird borders of Indian States.

[@MRSYSTEM96]

its strange that the irregularities are not fixed. Also, check out an area in Ireland called Drummully (also called Coleman's Island or Clonoony salient)

[@777gpower]

Look up Mont du Lac Ski Resort, Douglas County, Wisconsin- only accessible by Minnesota Route 23 from Minnesota. Also the only instance of a state highway running through a state that didn’t pay for it or name it.

[@almendoza04]

2:45 Y'all go support (if you know, you know 😅)

[@zeppelinmage]

There's a weird one between NH, VT, and Quebec... where bad mapping and bad river cartography led to a small ~5 sq km sliver of VT extending into NH. Look up Beecher Falls VT, and the Headwaters of the Connecticut River vs the 45th parallel.

[@General.Knowledge]

Thanks! Going to check that out.

[@Lawrence.Laurentius]

What is a special international situation is Point Roberts on south of Tsawwassen peninsula. I never understood why this town is not connected with ferry with the rest of Washington State. Maybe a local person can answer this question. In medium rich European country a town in this situation would probably be connected with mainland with a ferry service. I knew about Ellis and Liberty Island. Kentucky Bend is an interesting situation. I know that there are differences between US States (laws), but it is still the same country, same citizens, so moving from state to state is not that difficult for local population.

[@jspihlman]

Funky local pronunciations: New Madrid like the a in pack and Toledo like the e in beet.

[@ATFADL]

Bro brining up the over representation of quick sand, as a hazard, in children's media. Speaking truth to power.

[@stephenmcnally8583]

Awww he's straight 😢 stand down lads, nowt happening here

[@skywaymanaz]

The enclave I believe pre dates the earthquake. It seems more likely the river location wasn’t known when the line was drawn. The Ohio river shifted in that earthquake near Evansville, IN. There’s a thin strip of land in Kentucky north of the river. The bridge there is entirely in Kentucky. There will be a new bridge for I-69 nearby also all in Kentucky. So they knew that river boundary pre earthquake. Seems likely they knew New Madrid river location then as well. Reelfoot lake was formed by the quake as well. The land there subsided below the water table.

[@blxvkpxndx]

0:57 you can do whatever you want ❤

[@SwagBuro]

I hate you

[@1776SOL]

New Jersey / Delaware Maryland / Virginia Lake Wylie NC/SC

[@annehersey9895]

Wow! That border in Belgium with tiny Dutch enclaves and vise versa beats any of the quirks in the US border except for that weird little blip in the Northern US that pokes up into Canada. In the winter, the US residents haven’t to go into Canada up n around then cross back into the US which was almost an international hubbub during Covid because of different rules.

[@anthonygilford3097]

Theres a portion of Virginia on the eastern side of the Chesapeake

[@Itsa_me_MC]

In your lost peninsula segment the correct pronunciation for the Maumee River should sound like the English words maw-ME.

[@katieandkevinsears7724]

And the e in Toledo is pronounced like a long e. Americans are terrible with keeping original European pronunciations.

[@ferretyluv]

I wonder if those little exclaves in Canada would try and secede into Canada to fix the borders.

[@NotAGenAlphaChannel]

The first video of him I’ve watched with his face lol

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

the islands in canada saint pierre and miqelon that are still french territory

[@noahbrock349]

I wonder why Yanks don't use their natural boundaries as their state borders. Most English county borders are defined by rivers, ridges and often fields boundaries.

[@toddverbeek5113]

A lot of the borders *are* natural, but sometimes those change. The reason so many of the borders are arbitrary straight lines is because they were determined by politicians in the capital *before* the areas were (re)settled, who didn’t know what the geography of the area was.

[@General.Knowledge]

I think, like the other comment pointed out, that it's because the borders were drawn when the areas were still unorganized territories and mostly unsettled.

[@noahbrock349]

@@General.Knowledge Indeed. It is undoubtedly due to the young age of the United States.

[@tvlover17]

Rivers move a lot

[@GH-oi2jf]

We often do. The columbia River, for example, forms much of the border between Oregon and Washington. It isn't practical to continue its use as a border farther, because it turns north. The Mississippi and Ohio rivers also are state borders for much of their length.

[@drqwyxz3588]

face reveal is already old news. now is the right time to reveal something more 🤭 just joking. as usual, your content is super informative, excellent presentation, full of interesting and not so known facts. great job and keep it going on highest level. 💯

[@D.B-s9x]

Wait till you you see British counties pre-1844

[@Goozen12]

Some Mexican states have interesting borders like Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Tabasco, Puebla to name a few

[@johnlumsden9102]

Best solution for the us enclaves in Canada- annex Canada obviously.

[@sukekawa]

I think you appearing on videos is too distracting. You're too cute ❤😂

[@judithtaylormayo]

Noth border of Maryland

[@toddverbeek5113]

Calling the dispute between Michigan and Ohio the “Toledo War” is a bit of exaggeration. Its only “battle” involved just a few warning shots into the air, and the only “casualty” of the conflict was a knife wound sustained by a sheriff arresting one of the “combatants”. Compared to the million who died 25-30 years later in the first U.S. Civil War, it doesn’t really qualify.

[@General.Knowledge]

That's true! But I believe it's the correct historic label that it has.

[@kenaikuskokwim9694]

Michigan wasn't a state yet in 1835. The siting of the line would have affected Indiana and Illinois, as well, at Lake Michigan. (I.e., Chicago.) Thus, Ohio's claim had the support of six senators, and Michigan's none. Michiganians-- they weren't "Michiganders" yet-- never stood a chance. But as a consolation prize, Michigan was given most of the Upper Peninsula upon statehood in 1837. Side note: Michigan has never had the death penalty, so they were a full century ahead of most of Europe in its abolition. Wisconsin, too.

[@kenaikuskokwim9694]

Chicago consisted of a few cabins at the time. Everyone thought Toledo would become as important as Chi-town ended up. Thus, the "war". The only combat casualties were a mule or horse or two.

[@henrytroll3439]

Try Spain within France

[@stephenmcnally8583]

Do you dare do a vid on the north of Ireland?

[@brianlewis5692]

You're pronouncing 'New Madrid' incorrectly. It's pronounced like "noo MAD-drid". Also, the NW Angle is not uninhabited, there are 119 people who still reside there.

[@jb894]

He is Portuguese. Im sure he can also speak Spanish and knows how to pronounce Spanish words.

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

@@jb894It's pronounced MADD-rid in the US, not like the Spanish original.

[@jb894]

@@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co so you're saying it wrong then 😂. When will you Americans learn how to speak properly 🤔

[@toddverbeek5113]

He didn’t talk about the Northwest Angle (which he should have); he was talking about Elm Point to the southwest, which is uninhabited.

[@General.Knowledge]

Elm Point is uninhabited! Not the NW Angle, yes!

[@alexclement7221]

It's pronounced "new MAD-rid"...

[@corvus1374]

New Madrid is pronounced MADrid.

[@erenaydilekci2334]

I really prefer content without face on content

[@larrywave]

Muumi pappa or muumin father

[@lronBeagle]

This is the first time I’ve seen your face and 🥵

[@Armintanzarian1]

You look different as a human .