Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-12-21
FACTS AtUUf COo,.ll-s.
Imaginary Lines and Not Natural Bounda-
ries Used to Mark Most of Them.

Imaginary Lines and Not Natural Bounda-
ries Used to Mark Most of Them.
Few even of the New England states
have made use Of natural features for
county boundaries. British kings set
the fashion in the New World Of mark
ing political divisions by imaginary
lines. and the fashion has been followed
faithfully in states old and new. Its
final development is found in the west
ern states and territories, where nature S
boundaries, mountain ranges and rivers
are neglected for the sake Of the paral-
lels and meridians.. Maine, whose conn
ties are as irregular III shape as any IN
the world, has not made use Of natural
landmarks to any considerable extent
Vermont and New Hampshire have here
and there used mountain ranges and
streams for county boundaries Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut have disregard
ed natural boundaries in great degree
Even the great Connecticut river flows
across counties and is a boundary line
only between parts Of Middlesex and
New London counties in Connecticut
Rhode Islands chief county boundaries
are imaginary lines
Massachusetts, has two island conn
ties, Dukes and Nantucket. Island coun-
ties occur also in New York and Wash
ington, but not elsewhere, though the
larger part of Door county, Wis, is an
island in Lake Michigan. Washington's
island county bears the name Of Island
and is surrounded by the waters Of Pu-
get sound. Names counties average
nearly 500 square miles each in area,
and there are several each Of which IS
larger than the state Of Rhode Island.
New York has few natural county
boundaries save in the lake regions and
along the Hudson. New Jersey has arti-
fetal boundaries for many counties, but
PENNSYLVANIA has used mountains and
rivers in many instances. Delaware has
used small streams to bound her cOun-
ties and even her townships, or hun
dreds, as they are called. Maryland,
Virginia and West Virginia, having
plenty of streams and mountain ranges,
use such natural features for county
boundaries. Virginia's counties are I'M
usually small in both area and popula'
ton. Natural boundaries are usual in
the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama,
but Mississippi has many imaginary
county lines, and her counties are notch
ed in a way to suggest that they were
made with a view to the production Of
one Of those wooden puzzle maps that
are held together 10y the notchcs Louisi-
ana. Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky
have the characteristic rectangular
county forms with many imaginary
boundary lines, though creeks and riy-
crs are used to some extent in Kentucky
and Tennessee Florida has boundary
lines Of each sort, and so has Texas,
save in the northwest, where natural
boundaries are almost entirely dire
garded. Buchel county, Tex, Is a r. int
angled triangle and perhaps the only
one in the United States.
The states Of the middle west have
comparatively few natural county
boundaries, and those Immediately be-
yond the Mississippi almost disregard
landmarks in the choice Of county lines,
the counties being piled mathematically
tier on tier Even the great river Platte
flows across Nebraska much OF its way
through counties
The Rocky mountain states, unable &C
disregard the stern necessities Of great
rivers and almost impossible mountain
ranges, have accepted these natural fea
lures as county lines, though the Mis-
souri, flows through one Of the North
Dakota counties. Oregon and Washing
ton have accepted mountain ranges arc
great rivers for county lines, and so has
California though in many cases mag
mary boundaries are used.
a single county Of Montana is about
as large as all the New England states
together save Maine. Cherry county,
Neb, is nearly as large as New Jersey,
and one county in Arizona territory Is
nearly as large as Vermont and Ne"
Hampshire. One county in Wyoming
exceeds by 200 square miles the area Of
Vermont, and any one Of 20 far western
counties is almost double the area Of
Delaware. New York sun.