Tri-state area facts for kids
Tri-state area is an informal term in the United States which can be used for any of several populated areas associated with a particular town or metropolis that, with adjacent suburbs, lies across three states. Some of these involve a state boundary tripoint. Other tri-state areas have a more diffuse population that shares a connected economy and geography—especially with respect to geology, botany, or climate. The term "tri-state area" is often present in radio and television commercials.
Tri-state areas
- The area surrounding New York City, which includes parts of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. See New York metropolitan area, which sometimes includes part of Pennsylvania as a fourth state.
- The Philadelphia metropolitan area, which covers parts of the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware while also including a portion of Maryland's eastern shore.
- The Cincinnati metropolitan area, including Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
- The Greater Boston metropolitan area, which covers parts of the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.
- The Providence metropolitan area covers nearly all of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts; though Connecticut is not included in any official definitions of the metropolitan area, three of Rhode Island's five counties border Connecticut.
- The Pittsburgh tri-state area, covering parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.
- The Erie, Pennsylvania, tri-state area includes portions of New York and Ohio.
- The Minisink Valley tri-state region, which covers Orange County, New York; Sussex County, New Jersey; and Pike County, Pennsylvania.
- The Chicago tri-state area, or Chicagoland, includes northeast Illinois, Northwest Indiana, and southeast Wisconsin. Parts of southwest Michigan in the Michiana region are also culturally tied to Chicago. The Tri-State Tollway connects Illinois' portion of Chicagoland with Northwest Indiana and southeast Wisconsin.
- The Greater Memphis area or Mid-South, includes West Tennessee, Northwest Mississippi, and the Arkansas delta.
- The Dubuque, Iowa tri-state area spills over into Illinois and Wisconsin.
- The La Crosse, Wisconsin, tri-state area includes La Crosse and Onalaska in Wisconsin; La Crescent, Hokah, and Brownsville in Minnesota; and New Albin and Lansing in Iowa.
- The Chattanooga, Tennessee, tri-state area includes portions of Alabama and Georgia.
- 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 the District of Columbia is not a state. However, with the presence of Jefferson County, West Virginia, in the official Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metropolitan statistical area, the region, as defined by the US Government, does in fact include three states. This area is colloquially referred to as "the DMV" (DC, Maryland, Virginia).
- The "Joplin District", a lead and zinc mining region of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri, produces mineral specimens known as "tri-state" minerals, typically consisting mainly of sphalerite.
- The Wiregrass Region includes Southeast Alabama, Southern Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle.
- The Sioux City metropolitan area region of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
- Northwest Litchfield County, Connecticut, southern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and eastern Dutchess County, New York are referred to as a tri-state area or sometimes the "tri-corners".
- The Keokuk, Iowa, tri-state area includes parts of Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois.
- The Illinois–Indiana–Kentucky tri-state area includes Evansville, Indiana, and adjacent parts of Illinois and Kentucky.
- The Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area incorporates towns in ten counties in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. This area is sometimes referred to as “Kyova”, a portmanteau of the state abbreviations.
- The Ark-La-Tex is a socio-economic tri-state region that includes thirty-nine counties/parishes in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.
- The Delmarva area, which includes Delaware and the eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia.
The Quincy, Evansville, and Huntington–Ashland areas are noteworthy for the states included all being separated by rivers.
Tripoints
Land
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), 35 are on dry land and 27 are in water. Of the 27 points on water, 3 of them are in the Great Lakes, and thus have no land nearby.
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CO–KS–OK tripoint marker (8 Mile Corner)
State 1 | State 2 | State 3 | Coordinates | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | Florida | Georgia | 31°0′2″N 85°0′8″W / 31.00056°N 85.00222°W | Marker on Chattahoochee riverbank is actually a few feet above and west of true tripoint at high-water line. |
Alabama | Georgia | Tennessee | 34°59′5″N 85°36′19″W / 34.98472°N 85.60528°W | Tri-State Corner. Marker on dry land at surface level and unmarked on lake in cavern directly below. Stolen in 2009 and returned two years later. |
Arizona | Nevada | Utah | 37°0′1″N 114°3′2″W / 37.00028°N 114.05056°W | Marked with a red sandstone monument. |
Arkansas | Louisiana | Mississippi | 33°0′15″N 91°9′58″W / 33.00417°N 91.16611°W | Probably unmarked on silt island in river sometimes connected to west bank by mud flat accreted by riprap. |
Arkansas | Louisiana | Texas | 33°1′9″N 94°2′35″W / 33.01917°N 94.04306°W | See Ark-La-Tex. Marker in process of being surrounded and absorbed by tree. |
Arkansas | Missouri | Oklahoma | 36°29′58″N 94°37′5″W / 36.49944°N 94.61806°W | Marked with a stone monument. |
Arkansas | Oklahoma | Texas | 33°38′16″N 94°29′9″W / 33.63778°N 94.48583°W | Unmarked on seasonal silt island or in river bed, 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 | 41°59′40″N 119°59′57″W / 41.99444°N 119.99917°W | Marked with a cairn. |
Colorado | Kansas | Nebraska | 40°0′11″N 102°3′6″W / 40.00306°N 102.05167°W | Marked with a brass disc. |
Colorado | Kansas | Oklahoma | 36°59′35″N 102°2′32″W / 36.99306°N 102.04222°W | 8 Mile Corner. Marker is concealed in crypt beneath removable manhole cover. |
Colorado | Nebraska | Wyoming | 41°0′5″N 104°3′12″W / 41.00139°N 104.05333°W | Marked with a stone surrounded by a three-stone colored base. |
Colorado | New Mexico | Oklahoma | 37°0′0″N 103°0′8″W / 37.00000°N 103.00222°W | Preston Monument |
Colorado | Utah | Wyoming | 41°0′2″N 109°3′0″W / 41.00056°N 109.05000°W | Marked. |
Connecticut | Massachusetts | New York | 42°2′59″N 73°29′14″W / 42.04972°N 73.48722°W | See Brace Mountain or Mount Frissell. Marked with a stone inscribed with MASS-1898-NY and sometimes a "scratched-on" CONN. |
Connecticut | Massachusetts | Rhode Island | 42°0′29″N 71°47′57″W / 42.00806°N 71.79917°W | See Thompson, Connecticut. Marked with a stone inscribed with MASS-CONN-RI. |
Delaware | Maryland | Pennsylvania | 39°43′20″N 75°47′19″W / 39.72222°N 75.78861°W | See Delaware Wedge. Marked with a stone inscribed with M-M-P-P, as this was not the original intended tri-point. |
Georgia | North Carolina | Tennessee | 34°59′18″N 84°19′19″W / 34.98833°N 84.32194°W | Marked. |
Idaho | Montana | Wyoming | 44°28′27″N 111°2′56″W / 44.47417°N 111.04889°W | Located within Yellowstone National Park. Marked, although difficult to access. |
Idaho | Nevada | Oregon | 42°0′1″N 117°1′34″W / 42.00028°N 117.02611°W | Marked with a three-sided stone inscribed with N-I-O on the respective faces. |
Idaho | Nevada | Utah | 41°59′37″N 114°2′30″W / 41.99361°N 114.04167°W | Marked with a granite monument inscribed with the respective states' names. |
Idaho | Utah | Wyoming | 42°0′6″N 111°2′48″W / 42.00167°N 111.04667°W | Marked with a stone. |
Indiana | Michigan | Ohio | 41°41′46″N 84°48′22″W / 41.69611°N 84.80611°W | Brass marker with the shapes of the three states is located in a monument box beneath the surface of a rural road. Was set in 1999 and is referenced by a granite marker 20 feet to the east on the Michigan-Ohio line. |
Iowa | Minnesota | South Dakota | 43°30′1″N 96°27′12″W / 43.50028°N 96.45333°W | True point is marked with a disc in the center of a T-shaped road intersection. A witness monument nearby in the South Dakota corner acknowledges the tri-point being set in 1859. |
Kansas | Missouri | Oklahoma | 36°59′56″N 94°37′5″W / 36.99889°N 94.61806°W | Marked with a plaque on a seldom used dead-end road. |
Kentucky | Tennessee | Virginia | 36°36′3″N 83°40′32″W / 36.60083°N 83.67556°W | Tri-State Peak Located within Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Marked. |
Kentucky | Virginia | West Virginia | 37°32′17″N 81°58′5″W / 37.53806°N 81.96806°W | Marked with a USCG marker on top of a two-foot high iron pipe at the river's high point. |
Maryland | Pennsylvania | West Virginia | 39°43′16″N 79°28′36″W / 39.72111°N 79.47667°W | Marked with a pyramid-like stone. |
Massachusetts | New Hampshire | Vermont | 42°43′37″N 72°27′30″W / 42.72694°N 72.45833°W | Marker is technically on dry land, but buried within river bed due to a dam's construction downstream. |
Massachusetts | New York | Vermont | 42°44′45″N 73°15′54″W / 42.74583°N 73.26500°W | Marked with a stone. |
Montana | North Dakota | South Dakota | 45°56′43″N 104°2′44″W / 45.94528°N 104.04556°W | Marked with a red granite stone. |
Montana | South Dakota | Wyoming | 44°59′51″N 104°3′28″W / 44.99750°N 104.05778°W | Marked with a stone within a fence. |
Nebraska | South Dakota | Wyoming | 43°0′2″N 104°3′11″W / 43.00056°N 104.05306°W | Marked with a stone within a fence. |
New Jersey | New York | Pennsylvania | 41°21′27″N 74°41′42″W / 41.35750°N 74.69500°W | Marked by the Tri-States Monument in Port Jervis, New York, at the confluence of the Delaware and Neversink rivers. |
New Mexico | Oklahoma | Texas | 36°30′1″N 103°0′9″W / 36.50028°N 103.00250°W | Texhomex Marker |
North Carolina | Tennessee | Virginia | 36°35′17″N 81°40′39″W / 36.58806°N 81.67750°W | North Carolina–Tennessee–Virginia Corners - Marked. |
Water
State 1 | State 2 | State 3 | Coordinates | Water | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | Mississippi | Tennessee | 34°59′44″N 88°12′0″W / 34.99556°N 88.20000°W | Tennessee River | |
Arizona | California | Nevada | 35°0′7″N 114°38′1″W / 35.00194°N 114.63361°W | Colorado River | |
Arkansas | Mississippi | Tennessee | 34°59′44″N 90°18′33″W / 34.99556°N 90.30917°W | Mississippi River | Memphis, Tennessee metro area. |
Arkansas | Missouri | Tennessee | 36°0′2″N 89°43′59″W / 36.00056°N 89.73306°W | Mississippi River | |
Connecticut | New York | Rhode Island | 41°18′16″N 71°54′26″W / 41.30444°N 71.90722°W | 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 | 39°48′7″N 75°24′54″W / 39.80194°N 75.41500°W | Delaware River | Philadelphia metro area, at the east end of the Twelve-Mile Circle. |
Georgia | North Carolina | South Carolina | 35°0′2″N 83°6′31″W / 35.00056°N 83.10861°W | Chatooga River | Located in river very near marker on dry land. |
Idaho | Oregon | Washington | 45°59′43″N 116°54′58″W / 45.99528°N 116.91611°W | Snake River | |
Illinois | Indiana | Kentucky | 37°47′57″N 88°1′41″W / 37.79917°N 88.02806°W | Wabash River and Ohio River | Evansville, Indiana metro area. See Illinois–Indiana–Kentucky tri-state area. |
Illinois | Indiana | Michigan | 41°45′39″N 87°12′28″W / 41.76083°N 87.20778°W | Lake Michigan | Known as either the Indiana Dunes or the Michigan Dunes Area |
Illinois | Iowa | Wisconsin | 42°30′30″N 90°38′27″W / 42.50833°N 90.64083°W | Mississippi River | Dubuque, Iowa metro area. |
Illinois | Kentucky | Missouri | 36°58′51″N 89°8′3″W / 36.98083°N 89.13417°W | Mississippi River and Ohio River | Little Egypt region popularly labeled as a tri-state area with St. Louis, Missouri, Carbondale, Illinois metro area and Paducah, Kentucky being its nuclei. |
Illinois | Michigan | Wisconsin | 42°29′37″N 87°1′12″W / 42.49361°N 87.02000°W | Lake Michigan | |
Indiana | Kentucky | Ohio | 39°6′20″N 84°49′13″W / 39.10556°N 84.82028°W | Ohio River | Cincinnati metro area. The tripoint is near, but not precisely at, the confluence with the Great Miami River. |
Iowa | Illinois | Missouri | 40°22′42″N 91°25′10″W / 40.37833°N 91.41944°W | Mississippi River and Des Moines River | Border with Lee County, Iowa |
Iowa | Minnesota | Wisconsin | 43°30′2″N 91°13′4″W / 43.50056°N 91.21778°W | Mississippi River | La Crosse, Wisconsin metro area. Was apparently marked at one time with a sign that had been anchored in the location, but that sign has since been moved as of 2001. |
Iowa | Missouri | Nebraska | 40°35′7″N 95°45′56″W / 40.58528°N 95.76556°W | Missouri River | |
Iowa | Nebraska | South Dakota | 42°29′26″N 96°26′44″W / 42.49056°N 96.44556°W | Big Sioux River and Missouri River | Sioux City, Iowa metro area. |
Kansas | Missouri | Nebraska | 40°0′0″N 95°18′30″W / 40.00000°N 95.30833°W | Missouri River | |
Kentucky | Missouri | Tennessee | 36°29′54″N 89°32′22″W / 36.49833°N 89.53944°W 36°29′52″N 89°29′6″W / 36.49778°N 89.48500°W 36°29′57″N 89°25′6″W / 36.49917°N 89.41833°W |
Mississippi River | Three separate tripoints, due to meanders of the river (though probably only a single tri-state area surrounding them all). See also Kentucky Bend. |
Kentucky | Ohio | West Virginia | 38°25′18″N 82°35′45″W / 38.42167°N 82.59583°W | Big Sandy River and Ohio River | Huntington (W.V.)-Ashland (Ky.)-Ironton (Oh.) Tri-State region. |
Maryland | Virginia | West Virginia | 39°19′17″N 77°43′8″W / 39.32139°N 77.71889°W | Potomac River | Unmarked, at low water line, and almost always submerged. |
Michigan | Minnesota | Wisconsin | 47°17′28″N 89°57′26″W / 47.29111°N 89.95722°W | Lake Superior | |
Minnesota | North Dakota | South Dakota | 45°56′7″N 96°33′49″W / 45.93528°N 96.56361°W | Bois de Sioux River | Not directly marked and most probably within river. |
Ohio | Pennsylvania | West Virginia | 40°38′20″N 80°31′8″W / 40.63889°N 80.51889°W | 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; Pittsburgh Tri-State. |
Regions with no tripoint
The following tri-state areas are also notable, but have no tripoint:
See also
In Spanish: Área tri-estatal para niños