"Green River Island"

USA / Indiana / Evansville /
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Supposedly, this parcel of land was once an island when the river flowed in a channel to the north. Therefore, it was defined as part of Kentucky when it was declared a state in 1792. When the northern channel dried up, the state boundary was not shifted to match the river.

Indiana's claim to this land based on the fact that when it was declared a state in 1816, the northern channel had been reduced to a mere bayou. Nevertheless, it did not contest Kentucky's jurisdiction over the land for nearly 70 years.

The inter-state dispute was settled by the US Supreme Court in 1890.

This is just one of as many as 68 stretches of land that Kentucky claims that are on the WRONG side of a boundary river (the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers).

Supreme Court ruling (1890): supreme.justia.com/us/136/479/case.html
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   37°55'49"N   87°32'51"W

Comments

  • Take your whiny ass political statements somewhere else
  • And Evansville pays for both states' decision to this day, mainly because of Ellis Park.
  • First time I've ever been accused of being a Kentuckian! Sorry - I edited the tag anonymously by accident. But... this border dispute was settled over 100 years ago by the Supreme Court. Still, it's an interesting geographical/political anomaly.
  • One of Many! And Indiana isn't the only one that has to tolerate this. Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and let's not forget Tennessee. I don't really think that there is anybody along their border that they haven't honked off to say nothing about their unwillingness to get along with anybody. 100 years ago they didn't have the technology to accurately and fairly deal with this issue. One thing though, If the river shifts north in the next big earthquake, is Kentucky going to go claim more of Indiana.
  • Who would want more of Indiana? (I'm a Kentuckian, and a jackass)
This article was last modified 17 years ago