I have put Lynn's attachments up on the web at
http://www.geog.buffalo.edu/~dmark/circles.html
instead of emailing them as attachments.

David

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 09:43:18 -0600
From: Lynn Usery <usery@...>
To: David Mark <dmark@...>
Cc: Lynn Usery <usery@...>, Jerry Dobson <jed@...>
Subject: Re: circular cities in georgia???

David,

Circular city limits are common in the Piedmont area of Georgia (with
some in Alabama, North and South Carolina, see the attached file:
se.circle.cities.jpg). Even Athens, home of UGA, was originally a
circular city. The attached athens.jpg file shows the evolution of the
corporate limits of Athens through 1985; in the 1990's the Athens and
Clarke County governments were unified so the circular structure is no
longer visible. An example of a complete circle from 1920 is shown in
the statesboro.jpg file. Circles were used because of "... the
advantages of explicit verbal clarity, directional impartiality, and
ease of adoption." (Hodler, T.W. and H. Schretter, Atlas of Georgia,
1986, p. 79).

A significant factor in the use of circles was that a fixed point and a
radius allowed adoption of a corporate limit without an actual field
survey. As long as the radius extended beyond the actual outer limits of
urban activity, the actual location on the ground was of no particular
consequence. As the city expanded, the radius was increased and the
circle enlarged. The lack of circular cities in other parts of the
country, particularly in nearby areas reflects the adoption of the
Public Land Survey System which led to gridded corporate limit designs.
The Atlas of Georgia is the source of this information, including all
jpeg images.

Lynn

David Mark wrote:

>
> Someone pointed out two cities/villages in georgia that have circular city
> limits, and wondered if there were more. I decided to search on the
> TIGER map server and found lots of them, such as those listed below.
>
> But, do you know the history of why this unusual yet highly rational (cf.
> Von Thuenen!) form of city limit is so common in georgia while rare in the
> rest of the world??
>
> David
>
> Leslie
> De Soto
> Plains
> Smithville (incomplete circle)
> Parrott
> Coleman
> Shellman
> Dawson
> Bronwood
> Sasser
> Leesbirg
> Warwick
> Arabi (has rectangle attached)
> Rebecca
> Jacksonville
> Denton
> Surrency
> Midway
> Darien (partial)
> Screven
> Braxton
> Ambrose
> Ty Ty
> Enigma
> Willacoochee
> ...

--
E. Lynn Usery
Research Geographer
U.S. Geological Survey

Associate Professor Phone: 706-542-2345
University of Georgia Fax: 706-542-2388
Department of Geography
Room 204 GG Building Email: usery@...
Athens, GA, USA 30602-2502 or usery@...