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How the States Got Their Shapes
Why does Oklahoma have that panhandle? Did someone make a mistake? We are so familiar with the map of the United States that our state borders seem as much a part of nature as mountains and rivers. Even the oddities—the entire state of Maryland(!)—have become so ingrained that our map might as well be a giant jigsaw puzzle designed by Divine Providence.
How the States Got Their Shapes is the first book to tackle why our state lines are where they are. Here are the stories behind the stories, right down to the tiny northward jog at the eastern end of Tennessee and the teeny-tiny (and little known) parts of Delaware that are not attached to Delaware but to New Jersey.
Packed with fun oddities and trivia, this entertaining guide also reveals the major fault lines of American history, from ideological intrigues and religious intolerance to major territorial acquisitions. Adding the fresh lens of local geographic disputes, military skirmishes, and land grabs, Mark Stein shows how the seemingly haphazard puzzle pieces of our nation fit together perfectly.
How the States Got Their Shapes is the first book to tackle why our state lines are where they are. Here are the stories behind the stories, right down to the tiny northward jog at the eastern end of Tennessee and the teeny-tiny (and little known) parts of Delaware that are not attached to Delaware but to New Jersey.
Packed with fun oddities and trivia, this entertaining guide also reveals the major fault lines of American history, from ideological intrigues and religious intolerance to major territorial acquisitions. Adding the fresh lens of local geographic disputes, military skirmishes, and land grabs, Mark Stein shows how the seemingly haphazard puzzle pieces of our nation fit together perfectly.
332 pages, Hardcover
First published May 27, 2008
About the author
Mark Stein
27 books13 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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September 25, 2017
Great intro to understanding state history. Some of it made sense. Some of it was a little too vague, but overall, it will keep your interest and leave you wanting to dig up more on a bunch of states -- even beyond the ones you've lived in. Great for a quick read of a few pages every night. Also good to show your kids and expose them to other states at a younger age.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.
October 8, 2008
This book is divided into 50 short chapters, each detailing how a U.S. state acquired its shape. Easy to understand.
This book at first fascinated me. I love history, and I love maps even more. I can just sit and look at a map for hours, running my mind over the lay of the land. So, I was hooked. How did West Virginia get that little finger of land that reaches toward Pittsburgh? Why aren't Vermont and New Hampshire just one regular-sized state? Why did Wyoming take a bite out of Utah, and not the other way around? Why did Michigan get the Upper Peninsula instead of Wisconsin? What about the Oklahoma panhandle? Reading how our states were shaped is also a history lesson of its own, as it takes us back to the Revolution, the Louisiana Purchase, the Missouri Compromise, the Mexican-American War, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Civil War, etc etc. It's a good way to learn a little more about American history.
This book answers all the questions I had, and more. It discusses every jig and jag of a state boundary, so you get not only answers to big questions, but also descriptions of why such-and-such straight-line boundary is located at so-and-so latitude instead of another.
The drawback of this book is obvious. A straight line that is Colorado's northern border also happens to be Wyoming's southern border, and the meandering line through the Appalachians that forms North Carolina's western border also serves as Tennessee's eastern border. In other words, there's a lot of repetition. You get to be told each story at least twice, and many of them multiple times (Oh, that Adams-Onis Treaty!). This book can probably best be used as a reference, or read slowly enough that you've forgotten the previous stories when you get to read them again. Not a good book to read cover-to-cover.
This book at first fascinated me. I love history, and I love maps even more. I can just sit and look at a map for hours, running my mind over the lay of the land. So, I was hooked. How did West Virginia get that little finger of land that reaches toward Pittsburgh? Why aren't Vermont and New Hampshire just one regular-sized state? Why did Wyoming take a bite out of Utah, and not the other way around? Why did Michigan get the Upper Peninsula instead of Wisconsin? What about the Oklahoma panhandle? Reading how our states were shaped is also a history lesson of its own, as it takes us back to the Revolution, the Louisiana Purchase, the Missouri Compromise, the Mexican-American War, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Civil War, etc etc. It's a good way to learn a little more about American history.
This book answers all the questions I had, and more. It discusses every jig and jag of a state boundary, so you get not only answers to big questions, but also descriptions of why such-and-such straight-line boundary is located at so-and-so latitude instead of another.
The drawback of this book is obvious. A straight line that is Colorado's northern border also happens to be Wyoming's southern border, and the meandering line through the Appalachians that forms North Carolina's western border also serves as Tennessee's eastern border. In other words, there's a lot of repetition. You get to be told each story at least twice, and many of them multiple times (Oh, that Adams-Onis Treaty!). This book can probably best be used as a reference, or read slowly enough that you've forgotten the previous stories when you get to read them again. Not a good book to read cover-to-cover.
April 2, 2024
A most enjoyable read to try to understand why the 50 states have the boundaries that they have. Author Mark Stein gives us the history behind the drawing of the borders. When you think of it, there are some real oddities--such as the entire state of Maryland (and is the state of Delaware really necessary?).
Michigan is the only state divided into two parts. How did that happen? There was a little event called "the Toledo War" in 1835 ( I asked a historian friend if he had ever heard of it and he never had). The line that had been drawn for Michigan's southern border gave the Lake Erie port of Toledo to Michigan. The problem was that that the state of Ohio wanted Toledo ( after all, it was believed that Toledo was destined to become a great city!). As Ohio was a state and Michigan still only a territory, Ohio had the political power to get what it wanted, that is, a redrawing of the state line to the south placing Toledo in Ohio. Michigan was not happy about that and responded by sending its territorial militia to take the disputed land by force. Nine surveyors working for Ohio were captured and a Michigan sheriff was stabbed. To end the violence, Congress offered Michigan a deal. To compensate Michigan for the loss of Toledo, Congress took a peninsula from what was to become Wisconsin and gave it to Michigan and that became the Upper Peninsula (U.P.). Who came out ahead of the deal--Ohio by getting Toledo or Michigan by getting the UP? I'd say Michigan.
There are a lot more interesting stories about how the states got their shapes. One thing is certain--the borders were not foreordained. It was all the work of very fallible humans drawing lines..
If you don't know how your state got the shape it's in, you might want to read this informative book. And, Delaware, we're happy to have you and thanks for becoming the First State!
Note: I was wrong stating that Michigan is the only state divided in two. That just shows my Midwestern bias. Virginia, of course, has a small piece of land on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. King Charles I had intended that land to be part of Maryland but, as Virginia was the older colony, some of the Virginia colonists had already crossed the Chesapeake and established plantations there. Charles changed his plan and called for a boundary to be drawn between Virginia and Maryland on the Eastern Shore. Unfortunately, it was drawn further north than it was supposed to be, according to the Maryland charter. Maryland demanded that the line be redrawn--but no one paid attention to their claims. Finally, a special federal commission was formed, studied the situation, and ruled that the erroneous line should stand. This was in 1877. Sorry, Maryland but you're still a beautiful state!
Michigan is the only state divided into two parts. How did that happen? There was a little event called "the Toledo War" in 1835 ( I asked a historian friend if he had ever heard of it and he never had). The line that had been drawn for Michigan's southern border gave the Lake Erie port of Toledo to Michigan. The problem was that that the state of Ohio wanted Toledo ( after all, it was believed that Toledo was destined to become a great city!). As Ohio was a state and Michigan still only a territory, Ohio had the political power to get what it wanted, that is, a redrawing of the state line to the south placing Toledo in Ohio. Michigan was not happy about that and responded by sending its territorial militia to take the disputed land by force. Nine surveyors working for Ohio were captured and a Michigan sheriff was stabbed. To end the violence, Congress offered Michigan a deal. To compensate Michigan for the loss of Toledo, Congress took a peninsula from what was to become Wisconsin and gave it to Michigan and that became the Upper Peninsula (U.P.). Who came out ahead of the deal--Ohio by getting Toledo or Michigan by getting the UP? I'd say Michigan.
There are a lot more interesting stories about how the states got their shapes. One thing is certain--the borders were not foreordained. It was all the work of very fallible humans drawing lines..
If you don't know how your state got the shape it's in, you might want to read this informative book. And, Delaware, we're happy to have you and thanks for becoming the First State!
Note: I was wrong stating that Michigan is the only state divided in two. That just shows my Midwestern bias. Virginia, of course, has a small piece of land on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. King Charles I had intended that land to be part of Maryland but, as Virginia was the older colony, some of the Virginia colonists had already crossed the Chesapeake and established plantations there. Charles changed his plan and called for a boundary to be drawn between Virginia and Maryland on the Eastern Shore. Unfortunately, it was drawn further north than it was supposed to be, according to the Maryland charter. Maryland demanded that the line be redrawn--but no one paid attention to their claims. Finally, a special federal commission was formed, studied the situation, and ruled that the erroneous line should stand. This was in 1877. Sorry, Maryland but you're still a beautiful state!
October 26, 2010
read half of it in one sitting. I'm so not cool. Toward the end though, it got pretty repetitive. The strategy of covering every border one state at a time is good in theory, but if read from cover to cover, could be done in about 25 pages. Things I learned from the book:
1. There was a whole lot of bad surveying going on.
2. Panhandles are the most telling of the political atmosphere back then. Oklahoma has a panhandle because Texas wanted to be a slave state. Florida has a panhandle because it was originally occupied by the Spaniards. Utah has a panhandle solely because of geography.
3. Connecticut actually had land all the way to the Pacific. And is the Eastern Reserve implied in the Cleveland college Case Western Reserve.
4. South Dakota and South Carolina are both weirdly shaped because of Native American reservations.
5. The Spanish and French colonies had a lot more to do with the shape of the eastern states than you'd think.
6. The government had actually intended for the states after the original 13 colonies to be as equal as possible. As evidenced in the size and natural resources of Alabama, Mississippi, Oregon, N & S Dakota, Washington, Colorado, and Wyoming.
1. There was a whole lot of bad surveying going on.
2. Panhandles are the most telling of the political atmosphere back then. Oklahoma has a panhandle because Texas wanted to be a slave state. Florida has a panhandle because it was originally occupied by the Spaniards. Utah has a panhandle solely because of geography.
3. Connecticut actually had land all the way to the Pacific. And is the Eastern Reserve implied in the Cleveland college Case Western Reserve.
4. South Dakota and South Carolina are both weirdly shaped because of Native American reservations.
5. The Spanish and French colonies had a lot more to do with the shape of the eastern states than you'd think.
6. The government had actually intended for the states after the original 13 colonies to be as equal as possible. As evidenced in the size and natural resources of Alabama, Mississippi, Oregon, N & S Dakota, Washington, Colorado, and Wyoming.
September 9, 2018
Five-plus stars for a wonderful book on an oddity of United States history; how, and more fascinatingly, why, the jigsaw-puzzle layout of the country came to be. No state, because of the Earth's curvature, is a perfect rectangle, let alone a square; even though some of the larger western states approximate it. Some states, particularly in the east, are shaped so weirdly (but not Gruesome) as to boggle the mind. For example, Virginia has a piece of land under its jurisdiction that is attached to Maryland's eastern shore; Michigan's Upper Peninsula (or U.P.) is actually attached to Wisconsin; the Hawaiian Islands stretch for over 1,000 miles (1,609 km); and Point Roberts, Washington, is actually in Canada. This book is an entertaining romp through war, political wrangling, greed (the Comstock Lode, the title of a 1981 Louis L'Amour western novel, was actually a thing in the mid-19th century); and, very rarely, common sense.
August 27, 2012
The information within the book - and for the most part the style in which it is written - is very good. The primary fault is the organization. There are two introductory sections, one laying out the point of the book and the other giving some important information that will be referenced in almost every state history. Then the book goes through each state's border history. The states are listed alphabetically which is handy if you only want to look up a few. If you only want to look up, for example, Pennsylvania and Virginia this is great. You can get your information and follow this parenthetical 'for more information see New Jersey/West Virginia' etc.
However, if you are a big nerd like me and you read this book cover to cover, this gets a little old. Every state has 'see [other state]' repeatedly. The constant flipping back and forth if I needed a refresher on, say, the northeat border of New Mexico, reminded me of a choose your own adventure novel - constantly holding pages and adding bookmarks. (This format, however, would make an incredible website since you could click to expand. The author really should work on that as an option for history/geography students.)
It would have made more sense to organize regionally first, and then chronologically within the regions. This would have saved the author paragraphs and given him more space to expand on some of the history. As it reads now there are sections that are repeated almost verbatim.
Also, there is no conclusion, which is a little anticlimactic. You simply read the history of Wyoming's borders and that's it.
However, if you are a big nerd like me and you read this book cover to cover, this gets a little old. Every state has 'see [other state]' repeatedly. The constant flipping back and forth if I needed a refresher on, say, the northeat border of New Mexico, reminded me of a choose your own adventure novel - constantly holding pages and adding bookmarks. (This format, however, would make an incredible website since you could click to expand. The author really should work on that as an option for history/geography students.)
It would have made more sense to organize regionally first, and then chronologically within the regions. This would have saved the author paragraphs and given him more space to expand on some of the history. As it reads now there are sections that are repeated almost verbatim.
Also, there is no conclusion, which is a little anticlimactic. You simply read the history of Wyoming's borders and that's it.
April 10, 2012
The title IS a summary of the book, which is an ideal read if you're a history and geography geek like me. It's 304-pages of maps, historical notes, and outright warfare between states. I've always wondered why many East Coast states remained small; yes, they may have been colonies originally, but why not combine eventually? That question and many others are addressed. Sometimes it can get confusing because of the sheer amount of terms, but Stein set aside a special section at the front called DON'T SKIP THIS that shows the territories and treaties so you know your Adams-Onis from your Mason-Dixon.[return][return]The biggest surprise/shock was how intelligently Congress handled the divisions of territories during the 19th century. Many of their decisions early on were based on the need to balance slave and non-slave states, as reflected in policies such as the Missouri Compromise. However, even after the Civil War, they did they utmost to keep things balanced. If there was a body of water nearby, they let nearby states have access, however small. They tried to break apart western states along even divisions of degrees. Considering the buffoons we elect to office, I was pleasantly surprised at their foresight throughout a century of turmoil. And it never ceases to impress me how accurately they surveyed lines with their current technology.[return][return]If you're a United Stated geography/history geek, get this book. Watch the TV series based on it. I'm sure it will pay off in a Trivial Pursuit game at some point in the future.
January 14, 2021
This is basically a trivia or reference book, with each state, in alphabetical order, getting five or six pages describing the origins of its borders. If you try to read it at one shot, you might become annoyed by the repetition as text describing shared borders often gets repeated in each effected state. There are also frequent references pointing you to other sections of the book.
I took my time, reading it over the course of six months, taking in a chapter or two between other books or just before bedtime. You might want to place your copy next to the toilet.
Anyhow, for history buffs, this is loaded with lots of cool information, including mention of events of which I was previously unaware, like the Pennamite Wars. There is also lots of boring information, as too often the obstruction caused by big obvious rivers make up the borders, but even there the book reinforces how important rivers and waterways were to American growth, a fact that might be lost on our modern automotive society.
While some mention is made of indigenous people, I do feel like the impact of our borders on Native American territories and treaties could have been given more attention.
I took my time, reading it over the course of six months, taking in a chapter or two between other books or just before bedtime. You might want to place your copy next to the toilet.
Anyhow, for history buffs, this is loaded with lots of cool information, including mention of events of which I was previously unaware, like the Pennamite Wars. There is also lots of boring information, as too often the obstruction caused by big obvious rivers make up the borders, but even there the book reinforces how important rivers and waterways were to American growth, a fact that might be lost on our modern automotive society.
While some mention is made of indigenous people, I do feel like the impact of our borders on Native American territories and treaties could have been given more attention.
June 11, 2019
I don’t know why, but holy shit I can’t get enough of this stuff. I wanna give this six stars. I also want one of these for every country, state, county, city, neighborhood, etc.
September 5, 2013
Many would agree with Robert Frost that "good fences make good neighbors." (or with Ben Franklin who made a similar observation 200 years prior). This book is a treasure trove of why boundaries were and are important. Stein makes some general observations about the process of establishing the states and the antecedents to our nation's control over its current territory before examining almost every mile of border from each state's perspective.
It's a pleasant surprise that he makes it so interesting. This book can be read by those curious about their own state's history or by the traveler curious about what he/she will be encountering. It is a delight on the nightstand because as little as a page is often a complete story. I don't believe a book on such a pedestrian topic can be rated much higher.
It's a pleasant surprise that he makes it so interesting. This book can be read by those curious about their own state's history or by the traveler curious about what he/she will be encountering. It is a delight on the nightstand because as little as a page is often a complete story. I don't believe a book on such a pedestrian topic can be rated much higher.
April 6, 2020
I listened to this book and have to imagine that this book was probably intended to be a coffee table book.
As a coffee table book, it is probably really good, but as an audio book, it utterly fails.
I almost feel bad giving it 2 stars, but the fact that the publisher let this be made into an audio book warrants it!
The problem with the book is that it covers the shapes of each of the 50 states. Even if you have a good idea of what each state looks like (which I do), you probably do not know the geography well enough to follow the exact variances in each state. "This state followed this river, not that one because of this reason."
Each state is covered as a unique separate entity (thus coffee table fodder). This means that every border (except those with Canada and Mexico) are covered twice. The border between Ohio and Penn, covered in both the Ohio and Penn sections of the book. The border bteween Texas and Oklahoma, covered in both Texas and Oklahoma.
Am I glad to know the information contained herein? Yes. A couple of generalities can be made about the shapes of states (this is more true with later states than the original states):
1) If there is a panhandle (even if relatively small like Iowa or Penn) there was a political reason or trade reason for it),
2) If a states boundary follows a river, but suddenly diverges into a straight line, it was either a commercial reason for one state to cede the area or there was a geographical barrier that made access crossing the river easier.
3) The commonality in the size of states in the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain reason was very much by design. The Great Plains states are 3 degrees in lattitude and the Rocky Mountains are 4 degrees.
As a coffee table book, it is probably really good, but as an audio book, it utterly fails.
I almost feel bad giving it 2 stars, but the fact that the publisher let this be made into an audio book warrants it!
The problem with the book is that it covers the shapes of each of the 50 states. Even if you have a good idea of what each state looks like (which I do), you probably do not know the geography well enough to follow the exact variances in each state. "This state followed this river, not that one because of this reason."
Each state is covered as a unique separate entity (thus coffee table fodder). This means that every border (except those with Canada and Mexico) are covered twice. The border between Ohio and Penn, covered in both the Ohio and Penn sections of the book. The border bteween Texas and Oklahoma, covered in both Texas and Oklahoma.
Am I glad to know the information contained herein? Yes. A couple of generalities can be made about the shapes of states (this is more true with later states than the original states):
1) If there is a panhandle (even if relatively small like Iowa or Penn) there was a political reason or trade reason for it),
2) If a states boundary follows a river, but suddenly diverges into a straight line, it was either a commercial reason for one state to cede the area or there was a geographical barrier that made access crossing the river easier.
3) The commonality in the size of states in the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain reason was very much by design. The Great Plains states are 3 degrees in lattitude and the Rocky Mountains are 4 degrees.
April 1, 2024
How interesting can reading about state borders be?? Mark Stein gives it his best shot and does pretty well, but this is not high-caliber and contains introductory material only. He is a playwright rather than a historian so mixes a good deal of humor with interesting questions about borders. However, the questions become a tiresome device after reading about 50 different states. If you are familiar with US history then you will probably know a lot of the border stories, yet still learn about some of the lesser-known skirmishes.
March 23, 2014
A nice little book with tons of interesting stories about the setting, resetting and finalizing of borders over the roughly 230 years of American History. And it delivers exactly what it says on the cover: it shows and tells how the States got their shapes.
So ultimately, the only problem that i've got with Mr Stein's presentation is that i've come to read the book through the (in my eyes more than excellent) television series of the same name, where the various conflicts, clashes of interest and random incidents that now are "forever" written down on our maps and memorized with markers (or more like in the case of the various "x corners" tourist attractions ;)) are organized in a much different way from the alphabetic state-by-state process the Author used for his book. On screen we get presented with thematically assorted border creation reasons like natural obstacles (rivers/mountains), commercial reasons (Illinois and it's channel access to Lake Michigan or Nevada with the Access to the Colorado come to mind) or pre-existing contracts, wars and what more just as some examples...
Of course that led to some wild jumps across all the United States in a way the book version omitts by keeping to the strict ABC order... but it also prevented as much as possible the one big and constant bane of the book: repetition. I'm not sure but the number of places where it recommends to go back to the introductory chapter that was so cheekily named "Don't Skip this" must be nearly as high as the number of states revisited... And more than once we get to hear the same story for the states on both sides of the same borderline and get shown two grafics for both of the involved parties...
To be honest i'm pretty sure that the best way to go through this (historic) observation would have been a stacking of states at least in the four big waves of expansion... the original 13 states (including Vermont, Maine and West virginia as lateborn children of the former ones) The so called "Northwestern Territory" between Appalachians and Mississippi River won during the French-and-Indian-Wars and the two big expansions from Louisianna Purchase and Mexican War... That would leave Oregon & Washington, Florida, Alaska and Hawaii with a different story of acquisition and of course the District of Columbia that isn't literally a state, but surely deserves presentation (as thinks Mr Stein so he included it too!). At least this way most of the repetitive moments that were spread throughout the book would have been unnecessary and could be left out (for those who now would complain "but then you could not find the states as easy I'll just respond "then include a color coded map in the centerfold where you can look up the page number(s) easily")
Still i think i took a lot of things out of the book even after already knowing the TV version of it and the writing was not too boring and could sometimes become really witty and funny. It's not really a pageturner to spend a long trainride or flight with or to stay in bed when curing a cold and read away for a weekend (though i HAVE done it that way) but a good handy guide to look up all your questions about any state you might want to know better about the reasons for it's shape, curves and small squiggly appendices... Just like you would not often sit down and randomly page through your road map but open it for a specific purpose. Or like you seldom read any dictionary from A to Z.
So ultimately, the only problem that i've got with Mr Stein's presentation is that i've come to read the book through the (in my eyes more than excellent) television series of the same name, where the various conflicts, clashes of interest and random incidents that now are "forever" written down on our maps and memorized with markers (or more like in the case of the various "x corners" tourist attractions ;)) are organized in a much different way from the alphabetic state-by-state process the Author used for his book. On screen we get presented with thematically assorted border creation reasons like natural obstacles (rivers/mountains), commercial reasons (Illinois and it's channel access to Lake Michigan or Nevada with the Access to the Colorado come to mind) or pre-existing contracts, wars and what more just as some examples...
Of course that led to some wild jumps across all the United States in a way the book version omitts by keeping to the strict ABC order... but it also prevented as much as possible the one big and constant bane of the book: repetition. I'm not sure but the number of places where it recommends to go back to the introductory chapter that was so cheekily named "Don't Skip this" must be nearly as high as the number of states revisited... And more than once we get to hear the same story for the states on both sides of the same borderline and get shown two grafics for both of the involved parties...
To be honest i'm pretty sure that the best way to go through this (historic) observation would have been a stacking of states at least in the four big waves of expansion... the original 13 states (including Vermont, Maine and West virginia as lateborn children of the former ones) The so called "Northwestern Territory" between Appalachians and Mississippi River won during the French-and-Indian-Wars and the two big expansions from Louisianna Purchase and Mexican War... That would leave Oregon & Washington, Florida, Alaska and Hawaii with a different story of acquisition and of course the District of Columbia that isn't literally a state, but surely deserves presentation (as thinks Mr Stein so he included it too!). At least this way most of the repetitive moments that were spread throughout the book would have been unnecessary and could be left out (for those who now would complain "but then you could not find the states as easy I'll just respond "then include a color coded map in the centerfold where you can look up the page number(s) easily")
Still i think i took a lot of things out of the book even after already knowing the TV version of it and the writing was not too boring and could sometimes become really witty and funny. It's not really a pageturner to spend a long trainride or flight with or to stay in bed when curing a cold and read away for a weekend (though i HAVE done it that way) but a good handy guide to look up all your questions about any state you might want to know better about the reasons for it's shape, curves and small squiggly appendices... Just like you would not often sit down and randomly page through your road map but open it for a specific purpose. Or like you seldom read any dictionary from A to Z.
August 14, 2008
Here's an intriguing book of trivia--a tome of a very specific historical niche. Have you ever looked at a state map and wondered why the border runs like it does? No? Er, well, trust me, there are weirdoes like me who love maps and sit and gaze upon all the little quirks and details. And there are some, like me, who have wondered why the heck Michigan has an upper peninsula or why Utah has that notch. Such secrets are revealed in this book, as the logic (or politics) behind each twist and turn of the borders of the United States are recounted. On one hand it was interesting. I didn't realize all the finagling that went into our borders. I was shocked to find out that folks attempted to solve some border disputes with guns--after we had become a country. However, for all the moments of interest, there were moments of tedium as well. Each state has its own chapter and as such you get some repetition. After all, once you explain the borders of say, Idaho, you've suddenly got a preview of the stories of the surrounding states. Needless to say, reading the story of Wyoming, was less than fascinating. Still, it's an excellent book to fill ten minutes in a waiting room or something.
April 14, 2015
I cannot believe I read this whole thing.
Some of the explanations are interesting and may one day make for nerd cocktail chatter, but they are not worth suffering through the concluding sentence of each chapter, which is invariably in the style of "...and that's why the Florida panhandle demonstrates America's commitment to equality."
Some of the explanations are interesting and may one day make for nerd cocktail chatter, but they are not worth suffering through the concluding sentence of each chapter, which is invariably in the style of "...and that's why the Florida panhandle demonstrates America's commitment to equality."
July 16, 2020
I love maps. I love geography. I love the diverse terrain of the United States of America. This book was quite informative and gave me lots of details about the states and how they were formed. BUT... I really wish the author would have not organized this alphabetically. It would have worked better if he had written it by when the states were created. By the time I got to Virginia I was SO done and didn’t even read it because I had already gone over all it’s borders from Virginia’s surrounding states. I also wish he had given a history of how each state was named.
FYI... who knew that so many rivers, bodies of water, mountains, and bad or drunk surveyors were to blame for several state’s shapes!
FYI... who knew that so many rivers, bodies of water, mountains, and bad or drunk surveyors were to blame for several state’s shapes!
September 12, 2008
My parents live near Toledo, Ohio, and one of the streets near their house is called "Old State Line Road." After reading this book, I understand the significance of this street's name and how it is related to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. As a bonus, I learned that a large part of northern Ohio was claimed by Connecticut.
This book takes an interesting approach to U.S. history by explaining why the states have the shapes that they do. I never really had a reason to question why the states are shaped the way they do, but once I started thinking about it a bunch of questions popped into my head.
There is an introductory section, inelegantly titled "DON'T SKIP THIS," that lightly goes through the major events that shaped America's borders like the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican War, etc. Then the book has 50 chapters, one for each state, in alphabetical order. Each chapter methodically goes through the story behind each border. The book ends with a bibliography for each state, as if to dare you to fact check him.
Because of the organization of the book, it's very disjointed to read. Some of the stories are so woven together, like New York and Pennsylvania, that it would make sense to group them together. But as it is, you can read these chapters in any order without it making much difference. I think it might have been a more interesting book if they were listed in order of statehood. Then it could have highlighted other factors affecting states like the Missouri Compromise.
This book doesn't take very long to read because there are a lot of maps and chapter heading pages, so it can be read very quickly (in a few hours in my case) depending on how much you want to retain.
This book takes an interesting approach to U.S. history by explaining why the states have the shapes that they do. I never really had a reason to question why the states are shaped the way they do, but once I started thinking about it a bunch of questions popped into my head.
There is an introductory section, inelegantly titled "DON'T SKIP THIS," that lightly goes through the major events that shaped America's borders like the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican War, etc. Then the book has 50 chapters, one for each state, in alphabetical order. Each chapter methodically goes through the story behind each border. The book ends with a bibliography for each state, as if to dare you to fact check him.
Because of the organization of the book, it's very disjointed to read. Some of the stories are so woven together, like New York and Pennsylvania, that it would make sense to group them together. But as it is, you can read these chapters in any order without it making much difference. I think it might have been a more interesting book if they were listed in order of statehood. Then it could have highlighted other factors affecting states like the Missouri Compromise.
This book doesn't take very long to read because there are a lot of maps and chapter heading pages, so it can be read very quickly (in a few hours in my case) depending on how much you want to retain.
January 24, 2015
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is exactly as its title suggests. it's a book about how each state in the United States got its border. The book begins with a section called "Don't Skip This" It would have been helpful if this section included a succinct summary. The purpose of this section is to give a broad background on the formation of the geography of the United States. As I read the book, though, I kept thinking"If I knew about the French and Indian War, The Louisiana Purchase and The Mexican-American War, I'd understand a lot of the state shapes." That's oversimplified but a helpful way to start getting your head around the country geography.
The other thing I would change about this book is its organization. The states are listed alphabetically. I suppose the author had to pick something and landed on this organization, but the book starts to read like a dictionary. The relationships between bordering states are obviously critical in determining shape. So toward the final third of the book you've largely covered issues resulting in a state's shape because you've already read about a bordering state that comes earlier in the alphabet. The author tries to tie bordering states together by little cross reference mentions in a given state's section. "see Connecticut for more on this" I ended up not wanting to flip back and forth anymore. I trudged forward giving the read a reference book feel.
Still, I love learning facts. The facts about the states where I've lived really stuck with me. Who knew California got its Eastern border by drawing a somewhat arbitrary 251 mile from the ocean line aimed at keeping the Mountain gold inside the border?
The other thing I would change about this book is its organization. The states are listed alphabetically. I suppose the author had to pick something and landed on this organization, but the book starts to read like a dictionary. The relationships between bordering states are obviously critical in determining shape. So toward the final third of the book you've largely covered issues resulting in a state's shape because you've already read about a bordering state that comes earlier in the alphabet. The author tries to tie bordering states together by little cross reference mentions in a given state's section. "see Connecticut for more on this" I ended up not wanting to flip back and forth anymore. I trudged forward giving the read a reference book feel.
Still, I love learning facts. The facts about the states where I've lived really stuck with me. Who knew California got its Eastern border by drawing a somewhat arbitrary 251 mile from the ocean line aimed at keeping the Mountain gold inside the border?
May 23, 2011
Mark Stein, How the States Got Their Shapes (Smithsonian Books, 2008)
A lovely little book, this, which after a brief introduction dives straight into its topic: fifty sections, each detailing the history behind the odder bits of states' shapes. It's pretty much the ultimate American geography trivia guide, in that none of this stuff will ever find a practical application in your head, but it's fascinating. The number of common borders in the US does lend itself to repetition (in fact, one large chunk about the Louisiana Purchase was so repetitive he ended up excising it and adding a separate section called Don't Skip This, the brief introduction I mentioned earlier), but he tries to keep it to a minimum by cross-referencing as much as possible.
My only real quibble with it is one of structure, not content; given the intro I expected some sort of wrap-up, and so when I got to the end of the Wyoming section and found myself staring at a bibliography, I was a bit jarred. But this is in no way meant to convey any lessening of enjoyment in the contents otherwise. Probably a vertical-market thing for history and/or trivia buffs, but pure nirvana for that audience. *** 1/2
A lovely little book, this, which after a brief introduction dives straight into its topic: fifty sections, each detailing the history behind the odder bits of states' shapes. It's pretty much the ultimate American geography trivia guide, in that none of this stuff will ever find a practical application in your head, but it's fascinating. The number of common borders in the US does lend itself to repetition (in fact, one large chunk about the Louisiana Purchase was so repetitive he ended up excising it and adding a separate section called Don't Skip This, the brief introduction I mentioned earlier), but he tries to keep it to a minimum by cross-referencing as much as possible.
My only real quibble with it is one of structure, not content; given the intro I expected some sort of wrap-up, and so when I got to the end of the Wyoming section and found myself staring at a bibliography, I was a bit jarred. But this is in no way meant to convey any lessening of enjoyment in the contents otherwise. Probably a vertical-market thing for history and/or trivia buffs, but pure nirvana for that audience. *** 1/2
April 29, 2009
This was not as good as I had hoped, though it did have some interest. My big problem was the way he arranged his information, which was with the states in alphabetical order and then dealing with each border. The alphabetical order was the big problem--you spent a fair amount of time flipping back and forth between, say, Arizona and Nevada, or Mississippi and Alabama. Or you didn't flip, and so you forgot part of the story. Just a dumb and lazy way to arrange information that could have been really interesting.
Still, I know that Michigan got the UP because they gave Toledo to Ohio (after the two states waged a war over Toledo), so hey. Not all bad.
Still, I know that Michigan got the UP because they gave Toledo to Ohio (after the two states waged a war over Toledo), so hey. Not all bad.
February 8, 2017
2.5/5
Audiobook read, but this was entertaining until it got really grating. Good for trivia, not so great for entertainment.
Audiobook read, but this was entertaining until it got really grating. Good for trivia, not so great for entertainment.
September 8, 2017
If I ever finish this, I'm probably going to need to get my hands on a print version. I'm reading a library ebook and it's annoying. There is not a copy of the map being discussed on every page, so it gets confusing. I could pull up a Google Map but that would be annoying too. I can't fully judge the book because I'm having trouble with the format. I think I probably still want to read it, but the ebook is no bueno.
June 30, 2019
ReedIII Quick Review: Proof that US history can be fun. Great information written in an enjoyable organized way. Politics, geography, one person (see Missouri), survey mistakes and history all can make a difference in a states border.
December 16, 2021
The perfect book to consult if one is curious as to why any particular state has the shape of its borders the way it is. From a slight deviation of an otherwise straight line, to a noticeable addition or deletion of a large or unusually shaped chunk of area, the author explains the cause and reason for the placement of that border line. Reading the histories of the creation and establishment of the final borders of each of the states was very interesting as I discovered quite a bit of historical trivia previously unknown to me. Each chapter is a different state and the chapters are in alphabetical order making it extremely easy to locate and read about any particular state. However, I kind of wished the author would have included the states in the order in which they attained statehood as the flow of reading would have been much smoother historically speaking. The way the book is set up the reader is jumping around a lot throughout history. Even the inclusion of a list containing the order of the states by the date of their statehood would have been helpful. Still, I found the book very interesting and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys reading and discovering new facts of our nation’s history.
March 2, 2019
What a curious, interesting book. I happened upon this on a friend's recommendation, and was very pleasantly surprised. Organized into 51 chapters, one for each state, plus the District of Columbia, it uses history to explain the geography of each of the states. Stein's style is light and humorous, which helps lighten a book that could suffer from dryness.
One critique I have of the book is the repetition, which may be unavoidable given the structure of the book. For example, by the time you get to the last chapter, Wyoming, you've already read about their borders in the chapter on Utah, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, Idaho and South Dakota. There's only so much to say about some of those borders and their choices, so you already know about Congress' concerns about Mormon access to waterways or decisions to create states of equal width.
One critique I have of the book is the repetition, which may be unavoidable given the structure of the book. For example, by the time you get to the last chapter, Wyoming, you've already read about their borders in the chapter on Utah, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, Idaho and South Dakota. There's only so much to say about some of those borders and their choices, so you already know about Congress' concerns about Mormon access to waterways or decisions to create states of equal width.
July 7, 2019
Overall thorough and satisfied my geography information craving. Bit repetitive in spots, as what naturally happens when borders apply to more than one state. The organization of the book could have improved by sorting the states regionally instead of alphabetically. To summarize, most state borders stem from several of the same reasons, including:
-Slavery
-17th century surveyors screwing up
-Regional cultural differences
-Taking land from Native Americans
-The Concept that “all states should be created equal” which the British promptly ignored in creating New England
-Lots of Rivers
-Slavery
-17th century surveyors screwing up
-Regional cultural differences
-Taking land from Native Americans
-The Concept that “all states should be created equal” which the British promptly ignored in creating New England
-Lots of Rivers
March 29, 2021
Probably the most Leslie Knope thing I've ever read. Honestly such a dull topic but somehow I read it really quickly. Details of how each state got its shape. Spoiler alert, all states got their shape by one or several of the following:
-colonial charters
-a desire of Congress to have non-colonial states be of equal size
-natural boundaries such as mountains/rivers
-compromises between feuding states over boundary lines
-desire of states to either be slave or non-slave
-colonial charters
-a desire of Congress to have non-colonial states be of equal size
-natural boundaries such as mountains/rivers
-compromises between feuding states over boundary lines
-desire of states to either be slave or non-slave
June 2, 2017
The book was informative and a quick read for a history nerd like me, but was also very repetitive. I felt like Stein could have gone more in depth with some of the quirks of borders and disputes but perhaps was saving them for future works. I only gave 3 stars because of the repetitive nature, but as far as reading and information goes I would give 4.
January 25, 2018
Funny and insightful. However, it got repetitive since most of the states touch and the borders are for the same reason on each side. Stein’s bibliography left a lot to be desired and was too “select” for my tastes.
July 11, 2018
For geography or history nerds, this book offers insightful takes on American history and how state borders came to be. It’s not as organic as one might imagine, and is marked by the number of surveyor mistakes along the way!
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