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Author Topic: Name Game  (Read 867 times)
jimrtex
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« on: October 16, 2016, 02:13:50 PM »

There are 22 counties (11 pairs) in the United States that share a name with a neighboring county across the state line.

Hint: There are two asterisks and one footnote.
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muon2
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« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2016, 02:37:10 PM »

I know two in IL off the top of my head. Pike (IL, MO) and the presumably asterisked example of Vermilion IL/Vermillion IN.
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True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
Ernest
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« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2016, 05:42:30 PM »

None of the pairs involve South Carolina.  (And for obvious reasons, none involve Alaska or Hawaii either.)
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jimrtex
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« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2016, 05:50:38 PM »
« Edited: October 16, 2016, 05:53:07 PM by jimrtex »

I know two in IL off the top of my head. Pike (IL, MO) and the presumably asterisked example of Vermilion IL/Vermillion IN.
Interestingly, the Missouri Pike predates the Illinois Pike, and both originally extended far to the north. The Missouri version may have extended into modern-day Iowa, and as you may know the Illinois Pike included everything west and north of the Illinois River extended to Lake Michigan.

When I was searching for the Illinois Vermilion*, I had spelled it with two L's, and was surprised that Google asked if perhaps I had meant to look for "vermilion". How is it pronounced? I tried to find how the parish in Louisiana is pronounced, but kept finding sites that told me how to pronounce Lafourche, Natchitoches, and Tangipahoa, which I knew how to pronounce. I found a couple of videos on the parish historical society website, but they are carefully pronounced scripted, and don't reflect a more ordinary cadence.

I also found this interesting article about the Vermilion Border

*Yes, Vermilion is one of the two asterisks.
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« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2016, 06:52:26 PM »

I know one- Washington County
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jimrtex
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« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2016, 08:48:02 PM »

While 17 Washington County's are on a state border, none are adjacent to a Washington County on the other side of the line.

Washington, TN and Washington, VA may have been at one time.
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cinyc
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« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2016, 12:41:51 AM »
« Edited: October 17, 2016, 12:46:28 AM by cinyc »

I think I found another 8:

Bristol County, MA/RI
Kent County, DE/MD
Escambia County, AL/FL
Sabine County LA/TX (across a reservoir with a bridge - I guess that counts)
Big Horn County MT/WY (but I don't think any state highways connect the two)
Park County, MT/WY
Teton County ID/WY
San Juan County, UT/NM (Point continuity at the Four Corners - presumably the other asterisk or footnote)

Add that to Muon's 2:
Vermil(l)ion County, IL/IN
Pike County, IL/MO

...and we're up to 10.  What's missing?   Are you counting Larimer, CO/Laramie, WY or something?
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DINGO Joe
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« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2016, 10:53:58 AM »

Union Parish, LA and Union County, AR
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jimrtex
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« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2016, 11:15:54 AM »


I think I found another 8:

Bristol County, MA/RI
Kent County, DE/MD
Escambia County, AL/FL
Sabine County LA/TX (across a reservoir with a bridge - I guess that counts)
Big Horn County MT/WY (but I don't think any state highways connect the two)
Park County, MT/WY
Teton County ID/WY
San Juan County, UT/NM (Point continuity at the Four Corners - presumably the other asterisk or footnote)

Add that to Muon's 2:
Vermil(l)ion County, IL/IN
Pike County, IL/MO

...and we're up to 10.  What's missing?   Are you counting Larimer, CO/Laramie, WY or something?

Larimer and Laramie are named for different individuals. Laramie is named after Jacques La Ramee a French fur trapper. Larimer is named for William Larimer the founder of Denver. The early main commercial street in Denver is Larimer Street. There is also a Larimer neighborhood in Pittsburgh, PA (where Larimer had been a railroad man before heading west). Larimer's daughter later married into the Mellon family, and Larimer has been a common middle name in that family. There is also a Larimer Street in Denver Harbor, now part of Houston.

The San Juan's are the second asterisk. There is a San Juan County in Colorado, but it is not on the border, and it is more likely named for the mountain range rather than the river. The river almost crosses through the four corners, barely skimming the corner of Colorado as it runs southeast to northwest between the New Mexico San Juan and the Utah San Juan.

Toledo Bend is fairly new. The Sabine River was the international boundary between the US and Mexico, and US and Texas. Under the Adams-Ontis treaty, the boundary was on the west bank of the river. In 1848, after Texas had become a State, Congress granted to Texas the right to extend its borders to the middle of the river. The border was not definitively adjudicated until a SCOTUS decision in 1973 Texas v Louiisiana (1973).

This was after the two states had built Toledo Bend (the federal government was not involved). The dispute at that time was more about oil drilling rights in Sabine Lake, an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico. Port Arthur, Texas is on the western shore.

There is a Boundary Marker on the straight-line portion of the border north of the 32nd Parallel.

The footnote was that Louisana does not have counties, but I didn't want to say "county (or equivalents).

New hint: Four states have multiple counties that share a name with an adjacent county in a different state. Muon2 identified one (Illinois) and Cinyc identified two others. There is one more.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2016, 11:29:03 AM »


That is them.

The Arkansas Union was created after the residents petitioned the legislature in the spirit of unity and union to create a county. I found this county while searching for El Dorado. All I found was a bit of wiki-trivia about 22 counties.

A pair of small towns on the border are named Junction City.  Junction and union are synonyms.

I wonder how many similar pairs of cities there are? Off hand I can think of:

Kansas City KS and MO
Texarkana TX and AR
Bristol TN and VA
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jimrtex
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« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2016, 01:37:36 AM »
« Edited: October 27, 2016, 01:42:46 AM by jimrtex »

Many counties were named for Presidents. The most common county name is Washington.

Which were the first three presidents to not have counties named after them, and which was last president to have a county named after them.
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DINGO Joe
dingojoe
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« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2016, 01:32:38 PM »

The 1st looks like Benjamin Harrison.  There are several Harrison counties, but they were named after William H. or other Harrisons.
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DINGO Joe
dingojoe
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« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2016, 01:39:30 PM »

Which state has the most counties named after Presidents?  Without doing any real research, I'd guess Nebraska.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2016, 03:56:41 PM »

The 1st looks like Benjamin Harrison.  There are several Harrison counties, but they were named after William H. or other Harrisons.
Two were named for other Benjamin Harrison's. The one in West Virginia (then Virginia) is named for William Henry's father, a former governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The one in Kentucky is named after an early settler, who does not appear to have a direct link to the presidents, but the father of William Henry Harrison was Benjamin Harrison V, and the family was quite prominent in Virginia.

But Benjamin Harrison was not the first to be skipped.
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Sol
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« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2016, 04:04:41 PM »

I think the last president may be Harding?
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DINGO Joe
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« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2016, 05:34:31 PM »

The 1st looks like Benjamin Harrison.  There are several Harrison counties, but they were named after William H. or other Harrisons.
Two were named for other Benjamin Harrison's. The one in West Virginia (then Virginia) is named for William Henry's father, a former governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The one in Kentucky is named after an early settler, who does not appear to have a direct link to the presidents, but the father of William Henry Harrison was Benjamin Harrison V, and the family was quite prominent in Virginia.

But Benjamin Harrison was not the first to be skipped.

Ah, Andrew Johnson must be the first.  Interesting that Richard Mentor Johnson had so many counties  named after him.  I guess it's not so surprising that Andrew was shut out.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2016, 07:44:23 PM »

Which state has the most counties named after Presidents?  Without doing any real research, I'd guess Nebraska.
Quite possibly.

Iowa has 11 counties named after 12 presidents, with Adams apparently named after both father and son. But Polk was the current president and Taylor was not yet president, but a Mexican War commanding general, and Buchanan was apparently a lucky guess. It was named in 1837 as part of Wisconsin Territory, 20 years before he became president, when he was just a senator.

So while Iowa only skipped Tyler among presidents prior to statehood, it didn't have many presidents available when creating counties.

Nebraska has 11 counties name for presidents. Some say Madison is named for a city in Wisconsin, but it was named for the president.

Texas has 11 if you count Burnet, Houston, Lamar, Jones, and Jeff Davis. And it had a Buchanan.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #17 on: October 27, 2016, 11:07:18 PM »

I think the last president may be Harding?
Harding County, NM was named on the date of the president's inauguration.

One of the last state treasurers of Texas was Warren G Harding. He was born in 1920, and his father's last name was Harding, so naturally they name their son after the new president. He was followed by Jesse James as state treasurer.
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