Northwest Angle
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The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coterminous with Angle Township, is a small part of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota that is the only part of the United States outside of Alaska that is north of the 49th parallel. That parallel is the northern boundary of the 48 contiguous states extending eastward from the west coast along the northern boundaries of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and part of Minnesota to the Northwest Angle. Further east, U.S. territory does not extend that far north. Map projections sometimes create an optical illusion that Maine extends farther north than that; that illusion does not occur in maps in which parallels of latitude are straight lines. Like Alaska, Point Roberts, Washington, and Alburgh, Vermont, the Northwest Angle cannot be reached from the rest of the U.S. without either going through Canada or crossing water—specifically, the Lake of the Woods.
The population was 152 at the 2000 census.
The northwest corner of the Northwest Angle is at .
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[edit] Origin
The Treaty of Paris (1783), concluded between the United States and Great Britain at the end of the American Revolutionary War, stated that the boundary between U.S. territory and the British possessions to the north would run "…through the Lake of the Woods to the most northwesternmost point thereof, and from thence on a due west course to the river Mississippi…" The parties did not suspect that the source of the Mississippi, Lake Itasca, was south of that point. A factor in this mistake was the use of the Mitchell Map during the treaty negotiations. Consequently the Northwest Angle is the result of 18th-century ignorance of geography. In the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, the error was corrected by having the boundary run due south from the northwest point of the lake to the 49th parallel and then westward along it. When this north-south line was surveyed, it was found to intersect other bays of the lake and therefore cut off a portion of U.S. territory, now known as the Northwest Angle.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 1,544.5 km² (596.3 mi²). 318.8 km² (123.1 mi²) of it is land and 1,225.7 km² (473.2 mi²) of it (79.36%) is water. The land forming Angle Township is 123.09 square miles (318.81 km²) in area, which actually includes several islands and two small exclaves which are below (south of) the 49th parallel north. The exclaves are in the extreme southwest part of the township, south of the southeast corner of Manitoba, and not far from the northeast corner of Roseau County. Of the 2000 census population of 152, there were 118 living on the mainland, and 34 persons on the islands in Lake of the Woods. All of the populated islands are north of the 49th parallel. The mainland portion of the township north of the 49th parallel has an area of 302.075 km² (116.632 sq mi). The total land area of all islands is 16.325 km² (6.303 sq mi), and the two exclaves total 0.408 km² (0.157 sq mi). The township has the last one-room public school in the state. The border crossing is unstaffed. Travelers using the single gravel road into the Angle are expected to use the telephone provided to contact Canadian or U.S. Customs and make their declarations.
[edit] Elm Point
Elm Point, in Lake of the Woods County, is a small cape and also an United States exclave, southwest of the Northwest Angle. It borders Canada and is separated (by land), from the continental United States, at the 49th parallel.
[edit] Politics and popular culture
Secession from the United States and annexation by Canada has been proposed by some area residents on occasion, but little action has resulted given the proposal's non-urgent nature, lack of popular support, and sovereignty rights of the United States. The area is one of several distinct regions of Minnesota.
Author Tim O'Brien popularized knowledge of the location with his bestselling novel, In the Lake of the Woods, set in the Angle.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 152 people, 71 households, and 48 families residing in the township. The census records all 152 as White, one also being Hispanic. The population density was 0.5/km² (1.2/mi²). There were 272 housing units at an average density of 0.9/km² (2.2/mi²).
Of the 71 households, 10 have children under the age of 18 living with them, 45 are married couples living together, one has a female householder with no husband present, and 22 are non-families. Seventeen households are made up of individuals and 4 have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.53.
In Angle Township, 22 people are under the age of 18 (11 girls and 11 boys), 5 are between 18 and 24, 32 from 25 to 44, 74 from 45 to 64, and 19 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 50 years. There are 58 adult women and 72 adult men.
The median income for a household in the township was $28,500, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $28,500 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income for the township was $13,932. About 13.3% of families and 12.3% of the population were below the poverty line. No one under 18 or over 65 lives in poverty.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Angle Inlet School: Minnesota's last one-room school
- Marking the Northwest Angle by Roger E. Grimsley, PLS
- The Northwest Angle
- Boundary Commission Coordinates
[edit] References
- Northwest Angle, Minnesota. NASA Earth Observatory newsroom. Retrieved on 2006-04-27.
