Why Do So Many American States Have Panhandles?

What other interesting panhandles are there in the US / other countries?

If I were holding Texas like a pan, I'd hold it by the El Paso salient, rather than the Amarillo block. Those mountains near El Paso make for a better textured grip.

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but your little guy looks like Ferb cosplaying Napoleon. (from the tv show Phineas and Ferb)

Oklahoma is the only state that looks like a pan.

“Bootheel” is used for the southeastern corner of Missouri as it is smaller and protrudes southward, resembling the heel of a boot. The original plans for the Missouri border didn’t include the bootheel and would have kept the same border line that divides Kentucky and Tennessee but it was added when it was argued the area had more in common with the other Mississippi River towns in Missouri than it did with the Arkansas Territory. It is technically classified as a salient as well.

Maryland was the 7th state to join the US not the 13th. Lol and I do indeed live less then 15 min from that narrow spot in our state

3:20 In Texas we also called OK's panhandle the Cimarron Strip.

TRIVIA: There are three types of salients in North America. A bootheel goes southward, a panhandle goes eastward or westward, and (though rarely used) a "chimney" goes northward.

Fun facts about the shape of Idaho. There are stories that the original border with what is now Montana was supposed to follow the continental divide. However, the border was surveyed more to the west giving a big chunk of the west slope of the norther Rockies to Montana. Second, the original territorial capital of Idaho was in Lewiston, in the southern part of the panhandle. But when the capital was moved to Boise, the people in the panhandle were not happy and entertained the idea of joining Washington or Montana. In order to placate them, the territorial government put the state university, the University of Idaho in Moscow, which is about 35 miles north of Lewiston. The university was established about 6 months before Idaho got statehood. To this day, the North Idaho, i.e., the panhandle, feels like a different state in many ways than the southern part. This is only emphasized by the panhandle being in the Pacific Time Zone and the southern part being in the Mountain Time Zone.

The "Boot Heel" refers to the little part at the bottom of Missouri (that should have been in Arkansas).

You mentioned that you were intrigued in so many words that there could be disputes within one country. Bare in mind back in those days the states were more autonomous than they are now and functioned more like republics within a nation. it wasn't until after the civil war that power was more concentrated at the federal level. While states today still maintain a good deal of autonomy, claims to territory aren't one of them anymore and Congress would have to approve of any territorial changes between states which is why it's much harder today for states to secede from other states than it was prior to the civil war.

Maryland wanted river access. That makes complete sense.

I don't understand what makes Utah's protusion not a panhandle though

Never thought of Misiones as a panhandle

A quick correction on the OK panhandle - the Missouri Compromise line wasn't at 36 degrees, but 36 degrees and 30 minutes north.

Great vid. I knew little about this but now know much more. Thanks!!

Grew up in the Maryland panhandle.

Amazing all the iterations the various territories went through; and the reasons behind those configurations....

The entire state of Maryland is a bunch of panhandles stuck together.

Great question!! Always wondered.