Border irregularities of the United States
Encyclopedia
Border irregularities of the United States, particularly panhandles, territory effectively an exclave because of water, and highway incursions into other states, are not uncommon. Often they are a result of geometric borders not following geological features. The United States has a handful of these.

Geographic irregularities

Separated from rest of territory by Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 or other river changes from the massive 1812 New Madrid earthquake:
  • Tennessee's Reverie
    Reverie, Tennessee
    Reverie is an unincorporated community in Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. In 2001, the population was 11.Over a period of about 24 hours on March 7, 1876, the Mississippi River abandoned its former channel that coincided with the Tennessee-Arkansas border, and established a new channel...

     and Corona
    Corona, Tennessee
    Corona is an unincorporated community in Tipton County, Tennessee, United States.Due to topographic changes caused by the New Madrid earthquakes in 1811 and 1812, part of what is now Tipton County was cut off the state of Tennessee by a change in the course of the Mississippi River...

    , located in Tipton County
    Tipton County, Tennessee
    Tipton County is a county located on the western end of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 51,271. Its county seat is Covington. Tipton County is part of the Memphis, TN–MS–AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, centered on Shelby County, which borders Tipton on...

     north-northwest of Memphis
    Memphis, Tennessee
    Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

    .
  • (Some of those below may belong in this category)


Other irregularity involving the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

:
  • Arkansas has territory at 35.65°N 89.87°W across the Mississippi River on the northwest edge of Tennessee's Fort Pillow State Park
    Fort Pillow State Park
    Fort Pillow State Park is a state park in western Tennessee that preserves the American Civil War site of the Battle of Fort Pillow. The 1,642 acre Fort Pillow, located in Lauderdale County on the Chickasaw Bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, is rich in both historic and archaeological...

    , north of the Corona/Reverie, Tennessee irregularity below.
  • Illinois' Kaskaskia
    Kaskaskia, Illinois
    Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. In the 2010 census the population was 14, making it the second-smallest incorporated community in the State of Illinois in terms of population. A major French colonial town of the Illinois Country, its peak population was about...

     and other Illinois and Missouri territory on each other's side of the Mississippi River.
  • The Kentucky Bend
    Kentucky Bend
    The Kentucky Bend, variously called the New Madrid Bend, Madrid Bend, Bessie Bend, or Bubbleland, is an exclave of Fulton County, Kentucky, in the United States....

     between Missouri and Tennessee.


Separated by water other than the Mississippi:
  • Delaware
    Delaware
    Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

     has land on the New Jersey
    New Jersey
    New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

     side of the Delaware Bay
    Delaware Bay
    Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...

     at Fort Mott
    Fort Mott (New Jersey)
    Fort Mott was part of a three-fort defense system designed for the Delaware River during the postbellum modernization period following the American Civil War. The other two forts in the system were Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island and Fort DuPont in Delaware City, Delaware...

     and near the Salem Nuclear Power Plant
    Salem Nuclear Power Plant
    The Salem Nuclear Power Plant is a two unit pressurized water reactor nuclear power station located in Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey, in the United States. It is owned by PSEG Nuclear LLC and Exelon Generation LLC....

     in Salem County
    Salem County, New Jersey
    -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 64,285 people, 24,295 households, and 17,370 families residing in the county. The population density was 190 people per square mile . There were 26,158 housing units at an average density of 77 per square mile...

    . At that point in the Delaware Bay the border runs along New Jersey's mean low tide mark. Thus when navigational dredging from the Bay was dumped alongside Fort Mott and the Salem plant excavations used as landfill nearby, both sites became part of New Castle County in the state of Delaware.
  • Iowa's city of Carter Lake
    Carter Lake, Iowa
    Carter Lake is a city in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Carter Lake is located at ....

     on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River.
  • Several small areas of western Kentucky lie north of the Ohio River
    Ohio River
    The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

     on what is otherwise the Indiana side.
  • Michigan's Upper Peninsula
    Upper Peninsula of Michigan
    The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...

    .
  • Minnesota's Northwest Angle
    Northwest Angle
    The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coextensive with Angle Township, is a part of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, and is the only place in the United States outside Alaska that is north of the 49th parallel...

     and Elm Point
    Elm Point, Minnesota
    Elm Point, Minnesota, in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, is a small cape and a United States practical exclave, southwest of the Northwest Angle...

    .
  • Missouri's Rosecrans Memorial Airport
    Rosecrans Memorial Airport
    Rosecrans Memorial Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located three miles northwest of the city of St. Joseph in Buchanan County, Missouri, USA....

    , the airport for St. Joseph, is on the Kansas
    Kansas
    Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

     side of the Missouri River
    Missouri River
    The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

    .
  • Several separate portions of Nebraska lie east of the Missouri River
    Missouri River
    The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

    , most of which was caused due to flooding and changes in the river's path:
    • DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
      DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
      |DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, created in 1958, is located along the banks of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Iowa and Nebraska. The 8,362-acre refuge preserves an area that would had been otherwise lost to cultivation...

       near Blair, which borders Iowa. A portion of Iowa is also on the Missouri side of the river in the same area.
    • McKissick Island near Peru, which borders Missouri.
    • A section of land that borders an area near Sloan, Iowa
      Sloan, Iowa
      Sloan is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Sioux City, IA–NE–SD Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,032 at the 2000 census.-Economy:...

      .
    • Onawa Materials Yard Wildlife Area and Middle Decatur Bend State Wildlife Management Area near Onawa, Iowa
      Onawa, Iowa
      Onawa is a city in Monona County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,091 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Monona County. It is the largest town on the Iowa side of the Missouri River between Council Bluffs and Sioux City....

      .
  • Vermont's Alburgh
    Alburgh (town), Vermont
    Alburgh is a town in Grand Isle County, Vermont, United States, founded in 1781 by Ira Allen. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census...

    .
  • The Eastern Shore of Virginia
    Eastern Shore of Virginia
    The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...

     is separated by the Chesapeake Bay from the rest of the state.
  • Washington's Point Roberts
    Point Roberts, Washington
    Point Roberts is an unincorporated community in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It has a post office, with the ZIP code of 98281, whose ZIP Code Tabulation Area had a population of 1,314 at the 2010 census.A geopolitical oddity, Point Roberts is a part of the United States that is not...

    .

Other irregularities:
  • The Delaware Wedge adjacent to Maryland and Pennsylvania
  • The Erie Triangle
    Erie Triangle
    The Erie Triangle is a tract of American land that was the subject of several competing colonial-era claims and which was eventually acquired by the U.S. federal government and sold to Pennsylvania so that the state would have access to a freshwater port on Lake Erie...

  • Michigan's Lost Peninsula Marina and exclaves next to it in Erie Township, Michigan
    Erie Township, Michigan
    Erie Township is a civil township of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,850 at the 2000 census. The township is served by Mason Consolidated Schools.-Geography:...

     north of Toledo
    Toledo, Ohio
    Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

     and Washington Township, Lucas County, Ohio
    Washington Township, Lucas County, Ohio
    Washington Township is one of the eleven townships of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 3,574 people in the township.-Geography:Most of what was once Washington Township is now incorporated municipality, leaving only two small pieces...

    ; resulting from Toledo War border realignment.
  • Massachusetts' Southwick Jog
    Southwick, Massachusetts
    Southwick is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,502 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

    .
  • Missouri's Bootheel
    Bootheel
    The Missouri Bootheel is the southeasternmost part of the state of Missouri, extending south of 36°30’ north latitude, so called because its shape in relation to the rest of the state resembles the heel of a boot. Strictly speaking, it is composed of the counties of Dunklin, New Madrid, and Pemiscot...

    .

Highway system irregularities

  • Oklahoma State Highway 20 forms a concurrency with Arkansas Highway 43 between Maysville, Arkansas
    Maysville, Arkansas
    Maysville is an unincorporated community in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 130. It is the location of Coats School, which is located on Spavinaw Creek Rd. and Sellers Farm, which is located on Old Hwy. on State Line Both are listed on the National...

     and the Missouri
    Missouri
    Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

     state line, where AR-43 becomes Missouri Highway 43.
  • Interstate 24
    Interstate 24
    Interstate 24 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from Interstate 57 to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at Interstate 75....

     briefly enters Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

     for a few miles but comes back into Tennessee
    Tennessee
    Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

    , and retains Tennessee exit numbers.
  • Minnesota State Highway 23
    Minnesota State Highway 23
    Minnesota State Highway 23 is a state highway that stretches from southwest to northeast Minnesota. At in length, it is the second longest state route in Minnesota, after MN 1....

     enters Wisconsin
    Wisconsin
    Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

     near Duluth
    Duluth, Minnesota
    Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

     for half a mile.
  • Interstate 684
    Interstate 684
    Interstate 684 is a 28.4 mile-long north–south Interstate Highway in the states of New York and Connecticut. The highway connects I-84 with I-287 and the Hutchinson River Parkway, primarily serving commuter traffic to and from the northern suburbs of the New York metropolitan area...

    , otherwise in New York, takes a shortcut across the northwest corner of the Connecticut Panhandle
    Connecticut Panhandle
    The Connecticut Panhandle, informally known to locals as the Tail, is in southwestern Connecticut, where it abuts New York State. It is contained entirely in Fairfield County and includes all of Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien, as well as part of Norwalk and containing some of the most...

     without any exits or signage save a standard Connecticut sign welcoming travelers to Greenwich
    Greenwich, Connecticut
    Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...

    .
  • Interstate 86
    Interstate 86 (east)
    Interstate 86 is an Interstate Highway that extends for through northwestern Pennsylvania and southern New York in the United States...

    , formerly NY 17
    New York State Route 17
    New York State Route 17 is a state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States...

    , drops just south of the Pennsylvania state line for two miles between Waverly
    Waverly, New York
    Waverly is the name of some places in the U.S. state of New York:*Waverly, Tioga County, New York, a village in New York's Southern Tier*Waverly, Franklin County, New York, a town in Northern New York...

     and Sayre
    Sayre, Pennsylvania
    Sayre is the largest borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, northwest of Scranton. In the past, various iron products were made there. In 1900, 5,243 people lived there; in 1910, 6,426 people lived there, and in 1940, 7,569 persons made their homes in Sayre. The population was 5,813 at the 2000...

    . The crossing is indicated by signs in both directions, but the New York signage and exit numbering remain (prior to being converted to an interstate, Route 17's sequential exit numbering began at its Pennsylvania terminus and continued into New York, one of the few highways in the U.S. where this was so; however it is not uncommon for state highways to retain their route numbers when they change state highway shields at the border).
  • New York State Route 120A
    New York State Route 120A
    New York State Route 120A is a state highway in southern Westchester County, New York, in the United States. It serves as an alternate route to the southern half of NY 120 running along the New York–Connecticut state line. The southern terminus of route is at NY 120 in Harrison. Its...

     runs along the Connecticut state line for much of its length, but for 3.6 miles enters that state entirely, yet retains its New York signage and is still maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation
    New York State Department of Transportation
    The New York State Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S...

    .

Highway exclaves

Some highways are not connected to the rest of their nominal highway systems:
  • In addition to Alaska and Hawaii being separated from the Lower 48, each has road systems isolated from each other. Alaska Route 7
    Alaska Route 7
    Alaska Route 7 is a state highway in the Alaska Panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It consists of four unconnected pieces, serving some of the Panhandle communities that the Alaska Marine Highway ferries stop at, and connecting to the Alaska Highway in Yukon via the Haines Highway.-Route...

     and the other roads near Juneau, Alaska
    Juneau, Alaska
    The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

     remain separated by ferry
    Ferry
    A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

     from other road systems.
  • Iowa Highway 165 in Carter Lake, Iowa, is the only state highway in Iowa which is entirely west of the Missouri River
    Missouri River
    The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

    . The highway is the middle span of the Omaha, Nebraska
    Omaha, Nebraska
    Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

     road named Abbott Drive
    Abbott Drive
    Abbott Drive is a roadway in Omaha, Nebraska, and Carter Lake, Iowa. It is the easternmost link in Omaha's Park and Boulevard System that connects the eastern edge of Creighton University and North Downtown Omaha or NoDo to Carter Lake, Iowa, Eppley Airfield to John J Pershing Drive on the east...

    , and is not directly connected to any other street. The rest of Carter Lake is a separate street system exclave accessible only from Locust Street or Avenue H in Omaha.
  • M-185 is a state highway in Michigan. Like the rest of Mackinac Island
    Mackinac Island
    Mackinac Island is an island and resort area covering in land area, part of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was home to a Native American settlement before European...

    , M-185 is prohibited to motor vehicles except for emergency vehicles.
  • In Atchison County, Missouri, Missouri supplemental route
    Missouri Supplemental Route
    A supplemental route is a state secondary road in the U.S. state of Missouri, designated with letters. Supplemental routes were various roads within the state which the Missouri Department of Transportation was given in 1952 to maintain in addition to the regular routes...

     V is separated from the rest of Missouri's highway system. It connects only to roads in Fremont County, Iowa. This is due to lying northwest of the Nishnabotna River
    Nishnabotna River
    The Nishnabotna River is a tributary of the Missouri River in southwestern Iowa, northwestern Missouri and southeastern Nebraska in the United States. It flows for most of its length as two parallel streams in Iowa, the East Nishnabotna River and the West Nishnabotna River...

    .
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