Tri-state area

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NY-MA-CT Tripoint Marker
CT-RI-MA Tripoint Marker

There are a number of areas in the 48 contiguous United States known as tri-state areas where three states either meet at one point (a tripoint) or are in close proximity to each other. The two best known of the latter type are for the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas. Two well-known examples of the former are Philadelphia's Delaware Valley and the Pittsburgh Tri-State.

The Tri-State Region around New York City is where New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut nearly meet. There is no tripoint, however, as Connecticut does not touch New Jersey. Chicago's tri-state region includes Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin and is commonly referred to as Chicagoland. This tri-state region also does not have a tripoint since Indiana does not touch Wisconsin. Pittsburgh's tri-state region includes Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, which meet near the Beginning Point of the U.S. Public Land Survey northwest of Pittsburgh. Philadelphia's tri-state area consists of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware, with a tripoint meeting in the Delaware River near the east end of the Twelve-Mile Arc.

Other large metropolitan areas with a tri-state area include Cincinnati and Memphis. Smaller ones include those of Dubuque, Iowa, which spills over into Illinois and Wisconsin; and of Evansville, Indiana, which includes parts of Illinois and Kentucky.

The area that includes Washington, D.C. and the nearby parts of Maryland and Virginia is sometimes loosely referred to as a "tri-state area," although Washington is not a state.

The "Joplin District", a lead and zinc mining region of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, produced mineral specimens known as "Tri-State" minerals.

Contents

[edit] Land tripoints

Of the 62 points in the United States where three and only three states meet (each of which may be associated with its own tri-state area), 34 are on dry land.[1] They are:

State 1 State 2 State 3 Notes
Alabama Florida Georgia Marker on riverbank is actually a few feet above and west of true tripoint at high-water line.
Alabama Georgia Tennessee Marker on dry land at surface level but unmarked on lake in cavern directly below.
Arizona Nevada Utah Marked.
Arkansas Louisiana Mississippi Unmarked on silt island in river connected to west bank by riprap.
Arkansas Louisiana Texas See Ark-La-Tex. Marker in process of being surrounded and absorbed by tree.
Arkansas Missouri Oklahoma Marked.
Arkansas Oklahoma Texas Unmarked on silt island in river, but Oklahoma-Texas state line as revised in 2000 is defective in not extending from vegetation line on south bank to pre-established tripoint.
California Nevada Oregon Marked.
Colorado Kansas Nebraska Marked.
Colorado Kansas Oklahoma 8 Mile Corner. Marker is concealed in crypt beneath removable manhole cover.
Colorado Nebraska Wyoming Marked.
Colorado New Mexico Oklahoma Preston Monument
Colorado Utah Wyoming Marked.
Connecticut Massachusetts New York See The Berkshires. Marked.
Connecticut Massachusetts Rhode Island See Thompson, Connecticut. Marked.
Delaware Maryland Pennsylvania See Delaware Wedge. Marked.
Georgia North Carolina Tennessee Marked.
Idaho Montana Wyoming Located within Yellowstone National Park. Marked.
Idaho Nevada Oregon Marked.
Idaho Nevada Utah Marked.
Idaho Utah Wyoming Marked.
Indiana Michigan Ohio Marker is concealed in crypt beneath removable iron cover.
Iowa Minnesota South Dakota Marked.
Kansas Missouri Oklahoma Marked.
Kentucky Tennessee Virginia Tri-State Peak[2] Located within Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Marked.
Kentucky Virginia West Virginia Marked.
Maryland Pennsylvania West Virginia Marked.
Massachusetts New Hampshire Vermont Marker is technically on dry land, but buried within river bed.[3]
Massachusetts New York Vermont Marked.
Montana North Dakota South Dakota Marked.
Montana South Dakota Wyoming Marked.
Nebraska South Dakota Wyoming Marked.
New Mexico Oklahoma Texas Texomex Marker
North Carolina Tennessee Virginia Marked.

[edit] Water tripoints

Twenty-eight tripoints are under water:

State 1 State 2 State 3 Water Notes
Alabama Mississippi Tennessee Tennessee River
Arizona California Nevada Colorado River
Arkansas Mississippi Tennessee Mississippi River Memphis, Tennessee metro area.
Arkansas Missouri Tennessee Mississippi River
Connecticut New York Rhode Island Long Island Sound The part of New York that is in this tri-state area is Fishers Island. It is the New London, Connecticut metro area.
Delaware New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware River Philadelphia, Pennsylvania metro area, at the east end of the Twelve-Mile Arc.
Georgia North Carolina South Carolina Chatooga River Located in river very near marker on dry land.
Idaho Oregon Washington Snake River
Illinois Indiana Kentucky Wabash River and Ohio River Evansville, Indiana metro area. See Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky Tri-State Area.
Illinois Indiana Michigan Lake Michigan Known as either the Indiana Dunes or the Michigan Dunes Area
Illinois Iowa Wisconsin Mississippi River Dubuque, Iowa metro area.
Illinois Kentucky Missouri Mississippi River and Ohio River Little Egypt region popularly labeled as a tri-state area with St. Louis, Missouri, Marion, Illinois metro area, and Paducah, Kentucky being its nuclei.
Illinois Michigan Wisconsin Lake Michigan
Indiana Kentucky Ohio Ohio River Cincinnati, Ohio metro area. The tripoint is near, but not precisely at, the confluence with the Great Miami River.
Iowa Illinois Missouri Mississippi River and Des Moines River Border with Lee County, Iowa
Iowa Minnesota Wisconsin Mississippi River La Crosse, Wisconsin, metro area.
Iowa Missouri Nebraska Missouri River
Iowa Nebraska South Dakota Big Sioux River and Missouri River Sioux City, Iowa, metro area.
Kansas Missouri Nebraska Missouri River
Kentucky Missouri Tennessee Mississippi River 3 separate tripoints, due to meanders of the river (tho probably only a single tri-state area surrounding them all)
Kentucky Ohio West Virginia Big Sandy River and Ohio River Huntington (W.V.)-Ashland (Ky.)-Ironton (Oh.) Tri-State region.
Maryland Virginia West Virginia Potomac River Unmarked, at low water line, and almost always submerged.
Michigan Minnesota Wisconsin Lake Superior
Minnesota North Dakota South Dakota Bois de Sioux River Not directly marked and most probably within river.
New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Delaware River Purportedly marked on left bank but actually in middle of river.
Ohio Pennsylvania West Virginia Ohio River Technically the Beginning Point of the U.S. Public Land Survey, although the actual monument is 1,112 feet north of the tripoint due to the tripoint's current location under water.

[edit] Regions with no Tripoint

The following tri-state areas are also notable, but have no tripoint:

State 1 State 2 State 3 Notes
Alabama Mississippi Florida The Gulf Coast region.
Connecticut New York New Jersey New York metro area. See Tri-State Region article.
Illinois Indiana Wisconsin Chicago metro area
Kansas Oklahoma Texas The Liberal, Kansas, area has a close relationship with the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.
Massachusetts Maine New Hampshire The Boston to Portland metro area.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Tri State Corners in the United States". Jack Parsell. http://www.bjbsoftware.com/corners/docs/parsell.pdf. 
  2. ^ Tri-State Peak at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
  3. ^ Eric Jones. New Hampshire Curiosities. Globe Pequot, 2006. p114-5.

[edit] External links