Tri-pointers: a historic view of the CT-MA-NY tripoint

[Papa Bear]

For those of you who like to find tri-points on boundaries (such as when 3 states meet at a point) you are probably familiar with the Connecticut-Massachusetts-New York tri-point, which is just down the Hill from Connecticut's High point on the side of Mount Frissell.

Well it almost wasn't. See the post I just put up on Groundspeak's Benchmark Huntng forum, for some amusing history of the area.

The Tri-point That Never Was

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Excellent historical research, Papa Bear. I have heard bits and pieces of this history before, but I have never seen it detailed, organized, and summarized so well.

The oblong also explains the curious little panhandle of the Town of Northeast in Dutchess County, New York.

 

[Raymond]

You astound me, Papa. Good detective work.

Now what about that little peninsula of Southwick, Massachusetts, that sticks into Connecticut?

 

[Jazzbo]

Excellent Research and Report

Thanks PB for the excellent work and report. I find your writing style is very engaging and entertaining. It also makes me want to take a hike in the area. The Mt Riga Plateau is one of my old stomping grounds. I love the old archaic way they spelled Taconic in one of the books you cited .... "Taghkanick". Definitely more of an Indian word there.

 

[RoySwkr]

Good work!

Now maybe you'd like to research the historic location of Mt Lethe or the location of the Carroll County line on Sandwich Mtn

 

[Papa Bear]

You astound me, Papa. Good detective work.

Now what about that little peninsula of Southwick, Massachusetts, that sticks into Connecticut?

Be my guest.

The two sources mentioned in the article from Google Books have all the gory details.

Good work!

Now maybe you'd like to research the historic location of Mt Lethe or the location of the Carroll County line on Sandwich Mtn

I think that's best left to a native of and long term resident of New Hampshire.

 

[Stan]

Now what about that little peninsula of Southwick, Massachusetts, that sticks into Connecticut?

My understanding is that it is a keylock that prevents Massachusetts from sliding into the sea.

Thanks PB for this bit of history. I have developed an interest in the natural and human history of an area as an added dimension to the enjoyment of a hike, paddle or other outdoor adventure. Such things become an invitation to visit an area.

 

[chipc]

You astound me, Papa. Good detective work.

Now what about that little peninsula of Southwick, Massachusetts, that sticks into Connecticut?

Hopefully not too much of a hijack, but this 2008 episode of "On Point" has in interview with the guy who wrote book called "How States Got Their Shapes". No I haven't read the book, but the discussion was interesting and they do mention that little peninsula.

http://www.onpointradio.org/2008/06/how-the-states

 

[Bob]

I have developed an interest in the natural and human history of an area as an added dimension to the enjoyment of a hike, paddle or other outdoor adventure.

Agreeance here- any hike/paddle/climb for me consists of three parts-
The group dynamics, good or bad.
The local history and meeting locals from the area.
The hike/paddle climb itself.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Hopefully not too much of a hijack, but this 2008 episode of "On Point" has in interview with the guy who wrote book called "How States Got Their Shapes". No I haven't read the book, but the discussion was interesting and they do mention that little peninsula.

http://www.onpointradio.org/2008/06/how-the-states

Thanks for posting this radio show link. For the past 15 years, I had wanted to write such a book, but Mark Stein beat me to it. I have been to all but four of the 46 land-based tri-points (10 others are in the middle of rivers, so I have only stood on the shore of the side where two states share a boundary for those; some of the more fanatical rent a canoe to float over the exact spot). Then, there is the one and only quad-point for CO/UT/NM/AZ, which is a commerical tourist operation now. The land-based tri-point state boundary markers vary incredibly and are a lot of fun to research. My favorites in the Northeast are MA/VT/NY and DE/MD/PA. There is a fantastic USGS Professional Paper on the history of state boundaries that is long out of print and only rarely available on the used book Web sites; Mark Stein's book is the next best thing.

 

[Papa Bear]

... There is a fantastic USGS Professional Paper on the history of state boundaries that is long out of print and only rarely available on the used book Web sites; Mark Stein's book is the next best thing.

Those USGS reports by Henry Gannett (1885 and 1900) are both available from Google Books, and they were the starting pointy for my forum post.

USGS No. 13 (1885) - Google Books

USGS No. 171 (1900) - Google Books

Plus, for those interested in Connecticut, an excellent review of it's boundary disputes over several centuries

The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut by Clarence Winthrop Bowen (1882) - Google Books

So what was out of print is sometimes available again through this service. And these three are fully down-loadable, unlike a number of Google Books.

 

[Tom Rankin]

A little more weird state boundary trivia:

Does anyone know which state has a dis-contiguous 'exclave', surrounded completely by other states? No, not the U.P. of Michigan. This is not an island, it can be reached by driving out of the state, and back into it.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

A little more weird state boundary trivia:

Does anyone know which state has a dis-contiguous 'exclave', surrounded completely by other states? No, not the U.P. of Michigan. This is not an island, it can be reached by driving out of the state, and back into it.

Kentucky has a bend in the Mississippi River that is disconnected from the rest of the state at its southwest corner. It is surrounded by Missouri and Tennessee, with the only land connection through Tennessee.

Edit: Adding a link, which explains the origin with a map which explains it better than I did in words:
The Kentucky Bend

 

[Papa Bear]

... I have been to all but four of the 46 land-based tri-points (10 others are in the middle of rivers, so I have only stood on the shore of the side where two states share a boundary for those; some of the more fanatical rent a canoe to float over the exact spot). Then, there is the one and only quad-point for CO/UT/NM/AZ, which is a commerical tourist operation now. The land-based tri-point state boundary markers vary incredibly and are a lot of fun to research. My favorites in the Northeast are MA/VT/NY and DE/MD/PA. There is a fantastic USGS Professional Paper on the history of state boundaries that is long out of print and only rarely available on the used book Web sites; Mark Stein's book is the next best thing.

Dr. D -

A friend, not in this group, asked me to ask you have you ever visited the AR - LA - MS tripoint, if it's wet or dry and is there a monument there you found. From the looks of Google Maps, it would seem what was in the river channel is now on an island, due I assume to shifting sands.

Here's the map: AR - LA- MS Tripoint

Change the map type in the upper right to "Satellite", OR zoom out a couple of clicks where the 1:100,000 topos kick in and you'll see.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Dr. D -

A friend, not in this group, asked me to ask you have you ever visited the AR - LA - MS tripoint, if it's wet or dry and is there a monument there you found. From the looks of Google Maps, it would seem what was in the river channel is now on an island, due I assume to shifting sands.

Here's the map: AR - LA- MS Tripoint

Change the map type in the upper right to "Satellite", OR zoom out a couple of clicks where the 1:100,000 topos kick in and you'll see.

All that I have at my computer is a spreadsheet that indicates that we visited AR/LA/MS on 5/13/01, but there is also a 'c' after that date and a few others, which I believe indicates no marker, so those would be places where we stood on the shore at a the two-state boundary and took a photo of the river. Will try to check my notebook and maps this weekend.

Edit: forgot to say thanks for the link, as that is a really cool example of river channel change, for which I will need to research the time scale.