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Crossing
State Lines:
Virginia's
Neighbors
With
apologies to John Donne, no state is an island, no
state stands alone. (Except for Hawaii, of course.)
The Old Dominion shares its borders with five states
– North
Carolina, West
Virginia, Tennessee,
Kentucky,
Maryland
-- and the District
of Columbia. Two of these states, Kentucky and
West Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C., were
formed in part or in whole from Virginia.
It
is no coincidence that two of Virginia’s most
prominent citizens, George Washington and Thomas
Jefferson, were surveyors. Mapmaking and surveying
go hand in hand. During the region’s early
history, the border between North Virginia and
Virginia changed often. The original border had been
set at the parallel of latitude 36 degrees and 30
minutes north by royal charters for the colonies of
Virginia and North Carolina. By the 18th century,
many surveying companies wanted to extend the border
westward as settlers moved inland and land claims
between these individuals and colonies became
unclear.
In
1749, two accomplished surveyors, Joshua Fry and
Peter Jefferson, were commissioned to extend the
Virginia-North Carolina border. They joined several
other surveyors and working from a 1728 map,
extended the border 90 miles from Peter’s Creek in
Patrick Henry County 90 miles west to Steep Rock
Creek, southeast of what is now Damascus, VA.
Thirty
years later a more controversial surveying party,
led by Dr. Thomas Walker, again extended the North
Carolina/Virginia border to the Tennessee River.
However, due to an error, they arrived at the river
about 17 miles north of the true latitude. The
resulting Walker Line was disputed until the
boundary was resurveyed in 1859. Prior to that, some
settlers in Kentucky and Tennessee weren’t sure
where they lived.
So
how does Virginia compare with its neighbors in land
area and other stats? The commonwealth totals 42,769
square miles and is the second largest among its
neighbors. North Carolina is larger with over 48,000
square miles. Tennessee is third behind Virginia,
Kentucky fourth, West Virginia is fifth, Maryland
sixth and, of course, the tiny District of Columbia
is last. In population, based on 2005 estimates, the
order is almost the same, except that Maryland, at
9,774 square miles, has a bigger population than the
much larger Kentucky, with a land area of more than
39,000 square miles.
When
it comes to state symbols, Virginia shares its bird
– the cardinal – with three other states: North
Carolina, West Virginia and Kentucky. The
commonwealth, however, was the last among these to
designate its feathered symbol. Kentucky declared
the cardinal a state bird in 1926, followed by North
Carolina in 1943, West Virginia in 1949, and finally
Virginia in 1950. The state birds of the
commonwealth’s other neighbors are the mockingbird
in Tennessee, the Baltimore oriole in Maryland, and
the wood thrush in the District of Columbia.
As
to state songs, Virginia’s original state song,
“Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” was declared
“state song emeritus” in 1997 and the General
Assembly directed a committee to come up with a new
one. There was an effort in the 2006 session to
declare “Shenandoah” an “Interim State
Song,” but it failed. (See Official State Song of
the Commonwealth of Virginia).
The
most familiar state song among Virginia’s
neighbors is Kentucky’s “My Old Kentucky
Home,” written by Stephen Foster in 1853, which
makes it one of the oldest. Maryland’s state song,
“Maryland! My Maryland!” is sung to the tune of
“O Tannenbaum,” a melody that dates from 1824.
North Carolina’s song is “The Old North
State,” adopted in 1929. West Virginia has three
state songs and Tennessee actually has eight
official songs, including “The Tennessee Waltz”
and “Rocky Top.” Washington, D.C. declares its
song to be the national anthem.
Among
state flowers, Virginia shares the dogwood blossom
with North Carolina. West Virginia’s flower is the
rhododendron; Kentucky’s is the goldenrod. The
state flower of Tennessee is the iris; and
Maryland’s is the black-eyed susan. The District
of Columbia probably wins first prize for the
prettiest flower. It named the American Beauty rose
its official bloom in 1925.
Several
of Virginia’s neighbors have unusual state
symbols. Maryland’s state sport is jousting and
its state team sport is lacrosse. Tennessee and
Kentucky have state horses – the Tennessee walking
horse and the thoroughbred. In North Carolina, the
state reptile is the eastern box turtle. West
Virginia’s state animal is the bear.
Virginia,
of course, may be the only one of its neighbors that
has a state bat – the Virginia big-eared version.
It’s fascinating to wonder what’s next!
NEXT:
Turning on the Lights: Virginia’s Power Grid
--
July 16, 2007
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