The Christianville Spirit: How The States Got Their Shapes

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparks Your Heart

May 11, 2011- TCS # 249

Do you know why Ohio and Michigan hate each other during the University of Michigan and Ohio rivalry? Well, I’m going to tell you why. You See, I learned this from a show on The History Channel called How States Got Their Shapes and a New Series just like it called How The States Got Their Shapes. Now, about the Ohio and Michigan, You see there was a stretch of land that goes from the Present Day Michigan-Ohio State Line, 25 Miles or so to the south in which was going to be part of Michigan, which includes My Mom’s hometown of Toledo. You see, there was a battle (not a bloody battle) that concerned the Back-then rich Port of Toledo. Michigan wanted it as a great port and Ohio wanted it as more of Lakefront property but, they wanted it as a Port also. So, as a result, Ohio got the Port of Toledo and Michigan got the U.P of Michigan which, at that time was worthless but, now it’s full of Tourism, Better Economy, and Industry. But, that is only one of the many things I’ve learned from this show. Something Interesting, I learned on this show is how the Northern border of Georgia with Tennessee was drawn wrong. You see, when the surveyors drew the lines in Original 13 Colony Days, they meant to draw it on the 38th Parallel but, they missed it by a half-mile. Even Today, The State of Georgia wants to redraw the Georgia-Tennessee to what it’s supposed to be because of one thing, Water. You See, The City by which I really want to move to, Atlanta; wasn’t very smart when it was built because when Atlanta was growing up it was meant to be a connecting railway town so, it wasn’t built near many water sources. Now, Atlanta does have a couple water sources like Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River but, there are 2 Issues, one is that Atlanta is a very thirsty city and second is that Alabama wants some of the water from the Chattahoochee River down near Columbus. Now, what’s funny about this water war between Georgia and Tennessee is that on the border of Cooper Hill, TN and McCaysville, GA, there is a bar that sits on the Tennessee-Georgia line. The funny thing about it is that The Bar Area is in Tennessee which is in a wet county while the kitchen and the bathroom are in, Georgia which is in dry county. So, you can’t take your drink to the bathroom because you can’t drink in Georgia. So, they have a table at the state line that you put your beer on. So, the final thing I’ll tell you that I learned in the show is how the State of Nevada got it’s shape. The first reason is because California wanted all of it’s gold to itself and that’s the Western border but, the Southern border has an interesting twist. You See, back in the Civil War, Nevada ended several miles North of present-day Las Vegas but, because the Arizona Territory sided with The Confederacy. Congress let Nevada extent down the Colorado River and Nevada gained a Water Source because they get the least rain in the country. All in all, There’s a lot to learn about how our states got their shapes. It is said that we take the shapes of our states from granted but, there is alot of history behind the borders of each state.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Learn the History your State, You might be Surprised.