Even More Strange & Interesting U.S. Counties

Second video in a series where I examine U.S. counties that have various features that make them operate a little differently than others or that have unique aspects about them.

Part 1 in this series:

Album displayed:
Santana - "Santana III" (1971)

0:00 Intro
0:34 Lake of the Woods County, MN
2:11 Cimarron County, OK
3:01 Monroe County, FL
4:34 Northampton County, VA
5:54 Norfolk County, MA
6:56 Inyo County, CA
8:53 Fulton County, KY
9:48 Grand Isle County, VT
10:40 Dare County, NC
11:50 New York boroughs

[rebeccawinter]

Kyle, as a faithful watcher from Canada who’s a geography nerd myself I just want to say how lovely and well-put together your videos are. They are really well-paced, not needlessly flashy, and give lots of time to the beautiful maps. Thank you for doing what you do.

[MrDEWaters]

It is interesting that the monuments for the northernmost and southernmost points in the contiguous U.S. are similar in design.

[davezarvan]

Lee County, Virginia would be a good candidate for this series. It is the westernmost county in the state, and the entire county is further west than the westernmost point of West Virginia.

The westernmost community in the county (and therefore the state), Wheeler, is closer to NINE other state capitals than it is to its own capital in Richmond, which is 414 miles away by car. They are:
1. Frankfort, KY (165 miles)
2. Charleston, WV (228 miles)
3. Nashville, TN (242 miles)
4. Atlanta, GA (275 miles)
5. Columbia, SC (293 miles)
6. Indianapolis, IN (325 miles)
7. Columbus, OH (326 miles)
8. Raleigh, NC (353 miles)
9. Montgomery, AL (405 miles)

[Compucles]

Actually, Lake of the Woods is sometimes only the 7th largest lake in the U.S., as the size of the Great Salt Lake varies as to whether or not it is larger than Lake of the Woods. Though, currently Lake of the Woods is larger.

[Unmannedperson]

7:05: This picture is of San Luis Obispo (and Cal Poly!), CA, not Bishop. The image probably came up in a search because it was taken from Bishop's Peak.

[michaelmiddleton]

You covered all the records and amazing attractions of Inyo Co. Another great one. Thx Kyle!

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Unlike the rest of Monroe County, Dry Tortugas is in the Central Time Zone! Fort Jefferson is the largest brick masonry structure in the Americas. Fort Jefferson was built in 1847. The idea for the location for military use dates back to the 1820s when Commodore David Porter inspected Dry Tortugas to look for a spot to counter piracy, but he wasn't impressed. However, the government wanted to build a lighthouse there and so they did in 1826. In 1829, it was inspected by Josiah Tattnall III and he was impressed with what he saw and said Dry Tortugas would constitute the advance post for a defense of the Gulf Coast. Robert E Lee shared this opinion and convinced the government to make it a military reservation.

The Overseas Highway of the Florida Keys is quite interesting. It used to be the right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad! As the Panama Canal was constructed, in 1905, Henry Flagler (who helped develop the east coast of Florida) wanted to link Key West with the mainland, as Key West is the US's closest deep-water port to the canal and he could not only take advantage of Cuban and Latin American trade, but the opening of the canal allowed significant trade possibilities with the West Coast. It was completed in 1912 but was heavily damaged in 1935 during a Category 5 hurricane which led to the railway selling it to the state who then created the Overseas Highway.

[Mtn_Dewit]

Heres a county you might find interesting. Its my home county of St Clair County, Alabama. Its a county older than the state and has two seats, one in Ashville, the other in Pell City. This is due to the county's mountainous geography

[schmoab]

I just drove through Cimarron County, Oklahoma. I drove into the very northwestern point of Texas, which was just someone’s farm it appeared, because the state line is totally unmarked there. The New Moklatex triple point.

[docjaramillo]

Appreciate you mentioning the five counties of NYC

[jeremiahallyn]

I'm so glad you mentioned Fulton County, KY. I'm from the Lexington area, and I've never been to that part of the state. It's always interested me, though, because of how you have to leave the state to get to the other part of the county.

[toborobo]

Whatcom County, WA has a portion (Point Roberts) that is also only accessible by road through Canada.

[eggsngritstn]

The Kentucky Bend is odd, and because it is home to so few both Kentucky and Tennessee have discussed making it a wildlife preserve to avoid offering services there. Probably the right thing in the long run.

[nicocorbo]

another fantastic video, kyle. actually working on a project with key west transit right now. the population data for monroe county sure is interesting. keep up the great work

[PizzaPartify]

02:29 Black Mesa... Hearing it out loud here sent chills up my spine 😅

[Beekeroo]

Kyle, your content fits perfectly into my map-loving brain! And your style of delivery is perfectly suited to each topic you explore! Lastly, I appreciate all your comments about the maps that your viewers share with us! You express sincere gratitude for their efforts!

[eddiel]

Great content; nicely presented as usual. Wonderful that you haven't given in to doing ads.

[dudestpriest]

You should visit and do a video on Plaquemines Parish, such a unique place

[diaphanouswaffle]

This was super fun, thanks so much :)

[cubanmop]

Son of an Accomack County, VA, native here. Love to see the Eastern Shore of VA on here. Fun fact: Eastville and Northampton County are home to the oldest continuous court records in the nation.