I just talked to the borough clerk's office and the woman told me that
neither she, nor the mayor, nor anyone in the office at the moment has any
idea why their town is shaped as an octagon.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aletheiak [mailto:aletheiak@...]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 12:12 PM
> To: BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [BoundaryPoint] Re: STOP Sign in Northern New Jersey
>
>
>
>
> http://tinyurl.com/59fvv
> narrows the difference between the longest & shortest sides of
> the octagon to perhaps as little as 125 feet
> or only about 6 percent
> & all the angles measure close to perfect regularity too
>
> the directional offset of the octagon appears to follow the general
> direction of the main drag
> on which a pair of its diametric extremities evidently do fall
>
> but i guess theres nothing left to do but call boro hall
> & just ask them if they know what the deal is
>
> there is after all at least half a chance that the boro was formed &
> surveyed within living memory
>
> & another half a chance that local pride has remained aware of
> or somehow actually commemorated the unusual shape
>
> like what if they get several calls a week on this very question &
> have a faq already prepared
>
> --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "aletheiak"
> <aletheiak@y...> wrote:
> >
> > handsome & fascinating find mike
> >
> > & tho further info on this municipality is elusive
> > its absence from a 1903 topo indicates it is relatively recent
> > & thus presumably had a fairly accurate border survey
> >
> > curiously enough tho
> > the octagon only gives the impression of having a perfectly
> > cardinal orientation
> > yet is actually off by several degrees
> >
> > &
> > measurements indicate the octagon isnt so nearly equilateral
> as
> > it looks either
> > what with the longest sides being about 200 feet longer than
> the
> > shortest
> >
> > all of which suggests someone may well have tried for but
> > somehow not quite achieved geometric perfection
> >
> >
> > but if the powers that were really did want to make the easiest
> > possible work of an otherwise hard job
> > as you surmise
> > then such minor inexactitudes as these come as no great
> > surprise either
> >
> >
> > circular municipalities are actually fairly common tho
> > especially in the postbellum south
> > nor do they even necessarily require any demarcation
> > as an examination of plains georgia for example has revealed
> > http://egroups.com/group/BoundaryPoint/message/1550
> > http://topozone.com/map.asp?lat=32.03389&lon=-84.39278
> >
> > --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, spookymike@a...
> > wrote:
> > > For reasons unknown to me, the Borough of Sussex, in
> > Sussex County, New
> > > Jersey, is octagonally shaped. As with many other NJ
> > boroughs, towns, etc., it is
> > > completely surrounded by another municpality. Perhaps the
> > powers what be
> > > wanted to make a circular borough, but found it easier to
> > survey the eight
> > > straight segments of the octagon, rather than risk duplicating
> > the boundary mess in
> > > northern Delaware?
> > >
> > > Have a look: http://tinyurl.com/5r68d
> > >
> > > Mike Schwartz
>
>
>
>
>
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