My two noteworthy examples of thoroughfares that lie on borders involve cities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. When I worked at the Sun Herald newspaper, it was on DeBuys Road, which is the border between Biloxi and Gulfport. (The newspaper was on the Gulfport side, and the major TV station in the area was across the street on the Biloxi side.) The major impact of that setup was the roadway for most of my time working there was in terrible shape because the two cities couldn't agree on how to handle splitting the duties/costs/etc., of repaving. It was such a hodgepodge of patched potholes that one time I took my car in for an alignment after having neglected it for quite some time, and they took waaaay longer to finish the job because everything was so banged up. Similarly, the house where I live now is just on the Biloxi side of its border with D'Iberville. That road for quite some time was in similar shape, although it fairly recently got repaved.
Growing up, we visited my grandmother in Sandgate, Vermont. We knew my grandmother’s property bordered New York. What I didn’t know until I looked it up today, was that most of the bedroom in which my brother and I slept is in New York. While my parents and grandmother rested in Vermont, my brother and I were in New York.
I am excited to talk to my dad and aunt about this.
I was born in Bristol. The old hospital, now demolished, sat on the state line. The maternity ward was on the Virginia side, so that’s where I was born. But my birth certificate is from Tennessee, because that’s where the hospital’s office was.
My old high school in Ohio is on County Line Road, which separates Cuyahoga and Geauga counties. The school is in Chester Twp., in Geauga County. The original mailbox was across the street, in the village of Gates Mills in Cuyahoga County, so the school’s address is Gates Mills.
Great comments today. Bristol TN/VA was mentioned several times and it's probably the most well-known "split town". Another good blog to check out is Twelve Mile Circle. Right up your alley if you're fascinated by maps/borders/etc.
Kansas City, where I now live, has a State Line Road that runs through a large part of the city, including some of the poshest neighborhoods in town. Before he had to build a walled-off estate in the exurbs, Patrick Mahomes’ house was on State Line Road (the Missouri side).
One would think that Alsask (with a name like that) would also be straddling the border but that's not the case "It lies approximately 300 m (980 ft) east of the Alberta border and while the community lies completely within Saskatchewan, the local cemetery is actually in Alberta."
Not quite the same, but I live in a town that is half New York City and half Nassau County. A few oddities: I am in Nassau - the parkway grass across the street from my house is in NYC. The other side of the parkway is Nassau again. The speed limit is different on the north and south sides of a main road here because the NYC speed limit is 25 and the county is 35. Also, the road changes names from Jericho Turnpike to Jamaica Avenue at the parkway and the numbering convention changes, but…the north side of the street east of the parkway, although in NYC, is Jericho Turnpike.
Finally, a little heartwarming note. After Superstorm Sandy in 2013, the Long Island power company in the area went out, but Con Edison (the City power system) kept working in our area. The local diner on the north side of Jericho Turnpike allowed anyone with no power to come in and charge their phones without buying anything. Sadly, COVID did their business in, but it was nice at the time
Tangentially related, the Carowinds theme park is located right on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina and includes a border that runs through it.
This series is coming on nearly the exact 10 year anniversary of the transfers of a huge number of exclaves/enclaves, along the India/Bangladesh border. Prior to 2015, there was a mish mash of over a hundred along the border. I miss that geographic factoid: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/India–Bangladesh_enclaves
I know this has already been mentioned and isn't exactly what you asked for, but there's an interesting situation on the Virginia–Tennessee border, where two separate cities named Bristol are located across the border from each other. Part of the border runs down the street that forms the two towns' common downtown district.
Loving this series Paul. I've been afflicted with border geekiness since I was a child. How does this happen??!
In any case it's my understanding that the double yellow line on Canusa Ave is not exactly the border, as it seems the road is just very slightly at an angle to the actual border. At its Western end probably 2/3 of the pavement is in the Vermont and by the time you get to the curve at the eastern end, about 2/3 of it is in Quebec.
Of course that means that each stripe in that double yellow line encompasses that border for some stretch of it. As does that literal no-man's-land in between the stripes.
The entire road is maintained by the Province of Quebec btw and I'm sure at each repaving the double yellow line ends up in a slightly different spot.
Not a state or international border, but growing up in Plymouth, MA, we had a grocery store that crossed the town line with neighboring Kingston. The town line was marked in tile down the center of the first aisle. The Kingston side of the store was small, consisting of mainly the coolers for cold juices and dairy products. I remember thinking as a young boy that the coolers were in that aisle because it's the coolest supermarket aisle - in two different towns!
Sadly, the store was closed and replaced by two larger towns, both completely within their respective town.
My two noteworthy examples of thoroughfares that lie on borders involve cities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. When I worked at the Sun Herald newspaper, it was on DeBuys Road, which is the border between Biloxi and Gulfport. (The newspaper was on the Gulfport side, and the major TV station in the area was across the street on the Biloxi side.) The major impact of that setup was the roadway for most of my time working there was in terrible shape because the two cities couldn't agree on how to handle splitting the duties/costs/etc., of repaving. It was such a hodgepodge of patched potholes that one time I took my car in for an alignment after having neglected it for quite some time, and they took waaaay longer to finish the job because everything was so banged up. Similarly, the house where I live now is just on the Biloxi side of its border with D'Iberville. That road for quite some time was in similar shape, although it fairly recently got repaved.
Growing up, we visited my grandmother in Sandgate, Vermont. We knew my grandmother’s property bordered New York. What I didn’t know until I looked it up today, was that most of the bedroom in which my brother and I slept is in New York. While my parents and grandmother rested in Vermont, my brother and I were in New York.
I am excited to talk to my dad and aunt about this.
Please follow up with us regarding that discussion with your dad and aunt!
The town of Phillipsburg in NJ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillipsburg,_New_Jersey) is on the border with PA. The high school sports teams are the Stateliners.
I was born in Bristol. The old hospital, now demolished, sat on the state line. The maternity ward was on the Virginia side, so that’s where I was born. But my birth certificate is from Tennessee, because that’s where the hospital’s office was.
My old high school in Ohio is on County Line Road, which separates Cuyahoga and Geauga counties. The school is in Chester Twp., in Geauga County. The original mailbox was across the street, in the village of Gates Mills in Cuyahoga County, so the school’s address is Gates Mills.
Great comments today. Bristol TN/VA was mentioned several times and it's probably the most well-known "split town". Another good blog to check out is Twelve Mile Circle. Right up your alley if you're fascinated by maps/borders/etc.
https://www.howderfamily.com/blog/
Recommended time suck that has info that ties into today and yesterday: https://clui.org/projects/united-divide
I'm actually a longtime CLUI member but didn't know about that particular project. Thank you!
That does not surprise me one bit that you're a member. So much good stuff.
How does Kansas City fit into this?
Kansas City, where I now live, has a State Line Road that runs through a large part of the city, including some of the poshest neighborhoods in town. Before he had to build a walled-off estate in the exurbs, Patrick Mahomes’ house was on State Line Road (the Missouri side).
Lloydminster sits on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border. The city predates the creation of the two provinces in 1905. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloydminster.
One would think that Alsask (with a name like that) would also be straddling the border but that's not the case "It lies approximately 300 m (980 ft) east of the Alberta border and while the community lies completely within Saskatchewan, the local cemetery is actually in Alberta."
Not quite the same, but I live in a town that is half New York City and half Nassau County. A few oddities: I am in Nassau - the parkway grass across the street from my house is in NYC. The other side of the parkway is Nassau again. The speed limit is different on the north and south sides of a main road here because the NYC speed limit is 25 and the county is 35. Also, the road changes names from Jericho Turnpike to Jamaica Avenue at the parkway and the numbering convention changes, but…the north side of the street east of the parkway, although in NYC, is Jericho Turnpike.
Finally, a little heartwarming note. After Superstorm Sandy in 2013, the Long Island power company in the area went out, but Con Edison (the City power system) kept working in our area. The local diner on the north side of Jericho Turnpike allowed anyone with no power to come in and charge their phones without buying anything. Sadly, COVID did their business in, but it was nice at the time
Tangentially related, the Carowinds theme park is located right on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina and includes a border that runs through it.
Yes! I was there in 1996. Crazy place!
This series is coming on nearly the exact 10 year anniversary of the transfers of a huge number of exclaves/enclaves, along the India/Bangladesh border. Prior to 2015, there was a mish mash of over a hundred along the border. I miss that geographic factoid: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/India–Bangladesh_enclaves
I know this has already been mentioned and isn't exactly what you asked for, but there's an interesting situation on the Virginia–Tennessee border, where two separate cities named Bristol are located across the border from each other. Part of the border runs down the street that forms the two towns' common downtown district.
I’ve been there!
State Line Barbecue in El Paso, TX straddles the Texas/New Mexico border.
Loving this series Paul. I've been afflicted with border geekiness since I was a child. How does this happen??!
In any case it's my understanding that the double yellow line on Canusa Ave is not exactly the border, as it seems the road is just very slightly at an angle to the actual border. At its Western end probably 2/3 of the pavement is in the Vermont and by the time you get to the curve at the eastern end, about 2/3 of it is in Quebec.
Of course that means that each stripe in that double yellow line encompasses that border for some stretch of it. As does that literal no-man's-land in between the stripes.
The entire road is maintained by the Province of Quebec btw and I'm sure at each repaving the double yellow line ends up in a slightly different spot.
Not a state or international border, but growing up in Plymouth, MA, we had a grocery store that crossed the town line with neighboring Kingston. The town line was marked in tile down the center of the first aisle. The Kingston side of the store was small, consisting of mainly the coolers for cold juices and dairy products. I remember thinking as a young boy that the coolers were in that aisle because it's the coolest supermarket aisle - in two different towns!
Sadly, the store was closed and replaced by two larger towns, both completely within their respective town.