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— JIP | Talk 07:56, 3 November 2005 (UTC)
Is it just me or is the Western most point of California actually on the western edge of Sugarloaf Island near Ferndale, CA? This instead of the listed Cape Mendocino. Can someone check up on this?
This article could possibly be turned into a chart, with each state's information in rows and the extreme points (and the states) in columns.
Since people who are interested in such arcana are likelier to be found here than just about anywhere, I would like to bring up the little-known truth of California's northernmost point. No, it's not a northernmost line, the 42nd Parallel which everyone assumes to be the northernmost extreme of the Golden State (or, if you're Oregonian, the Litterbug State). If you look closely at a Google representation, the geography that I bring into question here, lies at a position in the vicinity of the Applegate Reservoir, towards the SW corner of Oregon's Jackson County; you can discern a region of the stateline that by some dimly remembered Act of the respective legislatures forms a small scalene triangle, where you would expect a nice straight Boundary Line faithful to the 42nd Parallel that God intended. The northernmost point of California is, I estimate, a full THIRD of a minute of Latitude to the north of the 42nd and it sits very inconveniently up on a mountain, that I'm sure anyone could climb and live to tell the tale, but it is a good 300+ meters UP there. Why????Was this the result of a legislative April Fool's joke? Actually I dimly remember a Huell Howser episode devoted to this, so someone could ask him. Schoolchildren around the globe are waiting for some hero amongst us to elucidate the Lat&Long of this mysterious geographical marvel. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures| Woilorio ( talk) 22:44, 5 February 2012 (UTC)]] comment added by Woilorio ( talk • contribs) 02:00, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
This page is interesting trivia, but inaccurate in at least one respect, and inconsistent with other correct Wikipedia pages.
The most easterly point in Alaska, and in the United States, is on Semisopochnoi Island, which lies in the geographic Eastern hemisphere (179.6E). The most westerly point in Alaska, and in the United States, is on Amatignak Island, which is just in the Western hemisphere (approx. 179W), not Attu Island, which is in the Eastern hemisphere.
The separate Wikipedia entries for Semisopochnoi and Amatignac, have it correct.
David Selley
I agree with this. Location is a matter of perspective. Nobody (in their right mind) in Alaska or the rest of the United States would travel eastward across North America, the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and Asia just to reach the western end of the Aleutian Islands, despite what the longitude number suggests. The Aleutian Islands are always considered to be west of the rest of the state of Alaska, and it makes the most logical sense to consider Attu Island to be the westernmost point in the state. — Michael Wilson (BS Geography, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1995; MS Applied Geography, University of North Texas, 2009). Mike5816 ( talk) 00:02, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
It occurred to me that most articles have United States spelled out, but Talk:U.S._state#.22U.S._states.22 would seem to indicate "U.S. states" is OK. Шизомби 02:18, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
I notice some of the points listed are over water. Would the article be more useful if the extreme land points were also listed? I mention this because people in Minnesota don't generally regard that state as bordering Michigan. Instead, the perception is that it borders Lake Superior. Unless we fish or work on the Great Lakes, we don't always perceive U.S. territorial waters of the Great Lakes as being divided into state territorial waters.
To be consistent, should U.S. territorial waters off of the east coast, west coast, and Gulf of Mexico be divided into state territorial waters, and the extreme points with the water territory be included? 206.53.197.24 ( talk) 15:41, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
I agree that, while Illinois and Michigan clearly share a legal boundary, to state the the "easternmost point of 'Illinois'" is some spot in the middle of Lake Michigan (and with Indiana due south, to boot) is just counterintuitive, and not very helpful, to most people. Per the discussion above, I've gone ahead and distinguished between Illinois' easternmost point over water and easternmost point of land (I wonder if that farmer knows he tills an extreme point?) HuskyHuskie ( talk) 03:14, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
I have tagged both Extreme points of Massachusetts and Extreme Points of Texas for suggestion to be merged here. They are sub-titles related to this article. It does not make any sense to have this article, that failed to be deleted, to stand and someone continue adding other states, and possibly possessions (and D.C.), that are sure to await nomination for deletion.
I would like to see the latitude and longitude coordinates for each of the point be added. The Alaska line is a good example of this. I would be willing to add these in if someone could find a good source for them, even if it is just on a state by state basis. This would provide Minimum Bounding Rectangles for each of the states. -- RossO ( talk) 19:17, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
Why does the article list Nauset Light in Eastham as the easternmost point? I'm looking at the DeLorme Massachusetts atlas, and it shows Nauset Light at 69°57′ W while parts of Nauset Beach in Orleans and Chatham are east of 69°56′ W. I can't believe recent erosion at Nauset has been so bad as to move the beach a full minute of longitude. BeIsKr ( talk) 07:08, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
Saying that the southernmost point of Pennsylvania is the southern border with WV and VA is an oversimplification. The legal boundary is NOT a simple line of latitude. To quote the Wikipedia article on the Mason-Dixon line: "The Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary is an east–west line with an approximate mean latitude of 39°43′20″ N (Datum WGS 84). In reality, the east–west Mason–Dixon line is not a true line in the geometric sense, but is instead a series of many adjoining line segments, following a path between latitude 39°43′15″ N and 39°43′23″ N." The legal boundary is defined by the milestones set in place by Mason and Dixon in the 18th Century. Google Maps, f'rinstance, presents this rather accurately, and if you zoom in on the border you will see that it zig-zags slightly in some places. I'm just a geek about such things.... PurpleChez 5/31/14 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.118.65.34 ( talk) 19:19, 31 May 2014 (UTC)
I suggest that the {{ coord}}, where given, be the first item in each cell. I believe this would automatically make two of the columns sort geographically; the other two could be made to sort properly by using {{ sort}} (or perhaps by just reordering the parameters in {{ coord}}; I don't think this would work, but if it does, it would be preferable). YBG ( talk) 05:37, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
The western boundary with Canada is defined not by the 49° line but by the markers placed by a joint survey, which wobble along that line. From the International Boundary Commission website, I infer that the northernmost point of Washington is Monument 35, 49°00′09.35″N 122°12′52.11″W / 49.0025972°N 122.2144750°W; that of Idaho is Monument 213, 49°00′03.20″N 116°14′10.30″W / 49.0008889°N 116.2361944°W; that of Montana is Monument 266 49°00′04.09″N 114°21′39.41″W / 49.0011361°N 114.3609472°W; that of North Dakota is the segment between Monuments 810 49°00′2.04″N 97°42′6.09″W / 49.0005667°N 97.7016917°W and 811 49°00′2.04″N 97°40′47.43″W / 49.0005667°N 97.6798417°W. — Tamfang ( talk) 21:55, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
![]() | This article was nominated for deletion on October 26, 2005. The result of the discussion was keep. |
![]() | This article is rated List-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||
|
— JIP | Talk 07:56, 3 November 2005 (UTC)
Is it just me or is the Western most point of California actually on the western edge of Sugarloaf Island near Ferndale, CA? This instead of the listed Cape Mendocino. Can someone check up on this?
This article could possibly be turned into a chart, with each state's information in rows and the extreme points (and the states) in columns.
Since people who are interested in such arcana are likelier to be found here than just about anywhere, I would like to bring up the little-known truth of California's northernmost point. No, it's not a northernmost line, the 42nd Parallel which everyone assumes to be the northernmost extreme of the Golden State (or, if you're Oregonian, the Litterbug State). If you look closely at a Google representation, the geography that I bring into question here, lies at a position in the vicinity of the Applegate Reservoir, towards the SW corner of Oregon's Jackson County; you can discern a region of the stateline that by some dimly remembered Act of the respective legislatures forms a small scalene triangle, where you would expect a nice straight Boundary Line faithful to the 42nd Parallel that God intended. The northernmost point of California is, I estimate, a full THIRD of a minute of Latitude to the north of the 42nd and it sits very inconveniently up on a mountain, that I'm sure anyone could climb and live to tell the tale, but it is a good 300+ meters UP there. Why????Was this the result of a legislative April Fool's joke? Actually I dimly remember a Huell Howser episode devoted to this, so someone could ask him. Schoolchildren around the globe are waiting for some hero amongst us to elucidate the Lat&Long of this mysterious geographical marvel. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures| Woilorio ( talk) 22:44, 5 February 2012 (UTC)]] comment added by Woilorio ( talk • contribs) 02:00, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
This page is interesting trivia, but inaccurate in at least one respect, and inconsistent with other correct Wikipedia pages.
The most easterly point in Alaska, and in the United States, is on Semisopochnoi Island, which lies in the geographic Eastern hemisphere (179.6E). The most westerly point in Alaska, and in the United States, is on Amatignak Island, which is just in the Western hemisphere (approx. 179W), not Attu Island, which is in the Eastern hemisphere.
The separate Wikipedia entries for Semisopochnoi and Amatignac, have it correct.
David Selley
I agree with this. Location is a matter of perspective. Nobody (in their right mind) in Alaska or the rest of the United States would travel eastward across North America, the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and Asia just to reach the western end of the Aleutian Islands, despite what the longitude number suggests. The Aleutian Islands are always considered to be west of the rest of the state of Alaska, and it makes the most logical sense to consider Attu Island to be the westernmost point in the state. — Michael Wilson (BS Geography, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1995; MS Applied Geography, University of North Texas, 2009). Mike5816 ( talk) 00:02, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
It occurred to me that most articles have United States spelled out, but Talk:U.S._state#.22U.S._states.22 would seem to indicate "U.S. states" is OK. Шизомби 02:18, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
I notice some of the points listed are over water. Would the article be more useful if the extreme land points were also listed? I mention this because people in Minnesota don't generally regard that state as bordering Michigan. Instead, the perception is that it borders Lake Superior. Unless we fish or work on the Great Lakes, we don't always perceive U.S. territorial waters of the Great Lakes as being divided into state territorial waters.
To be consistent, should U.S. territorial waters off of the east coast, west coast, and Gulf of Mexico be divided into state territorial waters, and the extreme points with the water territory be included? 206.53.197.24 ( talk) 15:41, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
I agree that, while Illinois and Michigan clearly share a legal boundary, to state the the "easternmost point of 'Illinois'" is some spot in the middle of Lake Michigan (and with Indiana due south, to boot) is just counterintuitive, and not very helpful, to most people. Per the discussion above, I've gone ahead and distinguished between Illinois' easternmost point over water and easternmost point of land (I wonder if that farmer knows he tills an extreme point?) HuskyHuskie ( talk) 03:14, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
I have tagged both Extreme points of Massachusetts and Extreme Points of Texas for suggestion to be merged here. They are sub-titles related to this article. It does not make any sense to have this article, that failed to be deleted, to stand and someone continue adding other states, and possibly possessions (and D.C.), that are sure to await nomination for deletion.
I would like to see the latitude and longitude coordinates for each of the point be added. The Alaska line is a good example of this. I would be willing to add these in if someone could find a good source for them, even if it is just on a state by state basis. This would provide Minimum Bounding Rectangles for each of the states. -- RossO ( talk) 19:17, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
Why does the article list Nauset Light in Eastham as the easternmost point? I'm looking at the DeLorme Massachusetts atlas, and it shows Nauset Light at 69°57′ W while parts of Nauset Beach in Orleans and Chatham are east of 69°56′ W. I can't believe recent erosion at Nauset has been so bad as to move the beach a full minute of longitude. BeIsKr ( talk) 07:08, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
Saying that the southernmost point of Pennsylvania is the southern border with WV and VA is an oversimplification. The legal boundary is NOT a simple line of latitude. To quote the Wikipedia article on the Mason-Dixon line: "The Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary is an east–west line with an approximate mean latitude of 39°43′20″ N (Datum WGS 84). In reality, the east–west Mason–Dixon line is not a true line in the geometric sense, but is instead a series of many adjoining line segments, following a path between latitude 39°43′15″ N and 39°43′23″ N." The legal boundary is defined by the milestones set in place by Mason and Dixon in the 18th Century. Google Maps, f'rinstance, presents this rather accurately, and if you zoom in on the border you will see that it zig-zags slightly in some places. I'm just a geek about such things.... PurpleChez 5/31/14 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.118.65.34 ( talk) 19:19, 31 May 2014 (UTC)
I suggest that the {{ coord}}, where given, be the first item in each cell. I believe this would automatically make two of the columns sort geographically; the other two could be made to sort properly by using {{ sort}} (or perhaps by just reordering the parameters in {{ coord}}; I don't think this would work, but if it does, it would be preferable). YBG ( talk) 05:37, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
The western boundary with Canada is defined not by the 49° line but by the markers placed by a joint survey, which wobble along that line. From the International Boundary Commission website, I infer that the northernmost point of Washington is Monument 35, 49°00′09.35″N 122°12′52.11″W / 49.0025972°N 122.2144750°W; that of Idaho is Monument 213, 49°00′03.20″N 116°14′10.30″W / 49.0008889°N 116.2361944°W; that of Montana is Monument 266 49°00′04.09″N 114°21′39.41″W / 49.0011361°N 114.3609472°W; that of North Dakota is the segment between Monuments 810 49°00′2.04″N 97°42′6.09″W / 49.0005667°N 97.7016917°W and 811 49°00′2.04″N 97°40′47.43″W / 49.0005667°N 97.6798417°W. — Tamfang ( talk) 21:55, 19 October 2015 (UTC)