What Happened To County Design?
Half way through the colonization of the US, something strange happened. Americans forgot how to make counties. Now I'm not going to say this has to do with the American inability to make flags, which I think get (on average) better as time goes on. (Although Oregon's two-sided flag is one bit of 2nd District Trivia I would have preferred to remain ignorant of.)
But America definitely started with a good idea of what counties should look like. They should be about square, all the same size, and follow either natural boundaries (in areas that have those) or straight lines in the flatter parts of the country. I would say the county system was excellent east of the Missouri, with the partial exceptions of Minnesota, Florida and Maine. Those states are exceptions, of course, because they were the most inhospitable ones in the nineteenth century.
I guess about 1870, the county system broke down. You can see that pretty clearly in Texas. In the southeast part of the state which had been settled for 50 years by then, the counties are decent looking, matching with the counties in neighboring Louisiana and Arkansas. In the north of the state, which was settled later in the 1870's and 80's, the counties are all square. In the south of the state, however, the counties are a mess. They get bigger as you go south and west, like the state just didn't have the energy to try any more. Lots of people live in those parts of Texas. Lots more than ever lived in northern Texas. Lots more farmers even.
It gets even worse in the later states. California was settled early, and the areas around Sacramento are decent -- even though little agriculture was happening there. When you get to the later-settled south, the counties get huge and gross (except for Orange County which is dainty and small for some reason). Idaho has counties of all sizes. There are two XXL counties, one in the southwest and one in the center, and the rest are normal counties that are packed around them (to keep them from shifting).
Arizona is one of the last states admitted, and it clearly shows Americans in the final stages of county fecklessness. There are three counties that run lengthwise for more than half of the height of the state. In between them is a huge lump county. I know agriculture is not a big thing in Arizona, and that is the reason to draw counties carefully. But what possible reason could there be to make your counties five times as long as they are high? I am beginning to think that corruption is involved.
But America definitely started with a good idea of what counties should look like. They should be about square, all the same size, and follow either natural boundaries (in areas that have those) or straight lines in the flatter parts of the country. I would say the county system was excellent east of the Missouri, with the partial exceptions of Minnesota, Florida and Maine. Those states are exceptions, of course, because they were the most inhospitable ones in the nineteenth century.
I guess about 1870, the county system broke down. You can see that pretty clearly in Texas. In the southeast part of the state which had been settled for 50 years by then, the counties are decent looking, matching with the counties in neighboring Louisiana and Arkansas. In the north of the state, which was settled later in the 1870's and 80's, the counties are all square. In the south of the state, however, the counties are a mess. They get bigger as you go south and west, like the state just didn't have the energy to try any more. Lots of people live in those parts of Texas. Lots more than ever lived in northern Texas. Lots more farmers even.
It gets even worse in the later states. California was settled early, and the areas around Sacramento are decent -- even though little agriculture was happening there. When you get to the later-settled south, the counties get huge and gross (except for Orange County which is dainty and small for some reason). Idaho has counties of all sizes. There are two XXL counties, one in the southwest and one in the center, and the rest are normal counties that are packed around them (to keep them from shifting).
Arizona is one of the last states admitted, and it clearly shows Americans in the final stages of county fecklessness. There are three counties that run lengthwise for more than half of the height of the state. In between them is a huge lump county. I know agriculture is not a big thing in Arizona, and that is the reason to draw counties carefully. But what possible reason could there be to make your counties five times as long as they are high? I am beginning to think that corruption is involved.
posted by apk01004 at 11:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home