THE MOST REMOTE COMMUNITY IN THE CONTIGUOUS U.S.

Supai, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Coconino County, Arizona. It is situated within the Grand Canyon. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 208. Supai has been referred to as “the most remote community” in the contiguous United States by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is accessible only by helicopter, or foot or by mule. Supai is 8 miles from the nearest road and has no automobiles in the community. In Supai, the main means of communications and supply is via the U.S. Postal Service, with incoming and outgoing mail transported by mule train. Mail is picked up at the Peach Springs, AZ Post Office, and trucked 60 miles along a desolate road maintained by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The road ends at Hualapai Hilltop where a string of mules accompanied by a wrangler on horseback makes the 16-mile round trip into the Grand Canyon six days a week. Supai is the only place in the United States where mail is still carried by mules. The Peach Springs Post Office building is the only USPS location that includes walk-in freezers for food delivery.

WORLD'S LARGEST TIRE

The world’s largest tire stands beside I-94, near the Detroit Metro Airport in Allen Park, Michigan. The 12-ton, 80-foot-tall automobile tire was built to survive hurricane-force winds, and served as a Ferris wheel (and a huge advertisement for Uniroyal) at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. Twenty-four gondolas circled the tire where the treads are today, carrying nearly two million people. The tire was moved to Allen Park in 1966 to stand next to a Uniroyal corporate building. The tire was eventually given to Allen Park, and the city then sold it to a local businessman. NOTE: Your humble blogger attended the New York World’s Fair in 1964, but does not recall riding on the Uniroyal Tire Ferris Wheel.

FIRST USE OF A PAINTED CENTER LINE ON A ROADWAY

In the United States, the first documented use of a painted center line was in 1911 along Trenton’s River Road in Wayne County, Michigan. The idea of using a painted center line was conceived in 1911 by Edward N. Hines, the chairman of the Wayne County, Michigan, Board of Roads, after watching a leaky milk wagon leave a white trail along a road. In 1917, the idea of using painted center lines on rural state highways was conceived and/or put into action in at least three states; Michigan, Oregon and California, apparently completely independent of one another.

“Dead Man’s Curve” along the Marquette-Negaunee Road in Marquette County, Michigan, shown in 1917 with its hand-painted center line.

NEW CENTURY GLOBAL CENTER – LARGEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD BY TOTAL FLOOR AREA

New Century Global Center, a multipurpose building in the Tianfu New Area of Chengdu, China, is the world’s largest building in terms of floor area. The 330-foot tall structure is 1,600 feet by 1,300 feet in size with 18,000,000 square feet of floor space. The building houses shopping, offices, conference rooms, a university complex, two commercial centers, hotels, an IMAX cinema, a “Mediterranean Village”, a pirate ship and an Olympic-size swimming pool. The centerpiece of the building is a water park (“Paradise Island Water Park”) containing a 54,000 square-foot artificial beach where a 490 by 130-foot screen forms the horizon to offer sunrises and sunsets. Must see video!

TOP 10 U.S. METROPOLITAN AREAS BY VIETNAMESE POPULATION - 2015

CIVIC MUSICAL ROAD - LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA

Originally created for a Honda commercial in September 2008, the Civic Musical Road consists of strategically placed grooves that, when driven over produce the musical notes to the finale of the William Tell Overture. Located in Lancaster, California, the original road was constructed on Avenue K, but city officials paved over it 18 days later due to noise complaints from the nearby neighbors. The road was rebuilt on Avenue G in October 2008 and remains there to this day. The new location is two miles away from any residential areas, therefore presenting less problems for the locals. Visitors who wish to hear the musical piece must stay in the far-left land of the three-lane road. It is said that driving at 55 miles per hour provides the optimal sound quality. NOTE: Your humble blogger is a big fan of the Grand Tour on Amazon Prime (video below).

NEW MEXICO STATE ROAD 6563

State Road 6563, also known as the Sunspot Scenic Byway, is a 15 and ½ mile long two-lane state highway in Otero County, New Mexico. NM 6563 begins at the National Solar Observatory at Sunspot in the Lincoln National Forest. It then travels northward to its northern terminus at NM 130. NM 6563 takes it number from the wavelength of the Hydrogen-alpha spectral line (6563 Ầ) used by scientists at the observatory to study the solar chromosphere and to locate solar flares on the Sun.

STATES WITH THE MOST BILLBOARDS

The federal government tracks the number of billboards through each state as part of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. There are four states; Hawaii, Alaska, Maine and Vermont that have banned billboards.

STATES WITH THE MOST BILLBOARDS
STATE	NUMBER OF BILLBOARDS
Florida	11,109
Georgia	9,871
California	8,700
New Jersey	8,500
Missouri	2,100

ANNA CREEK STATION - WORLD'S LARGEST WORKING CATTLE RANCH

Anna Creek Station is the world’s largest working cattle station. It is located in the Australian state of South Australia. Anna Creek station has an area of 9,142 square miles, which is slightly larger than Israel. It is over seven times the size of the United States’ biggest ranch, King Ranch in Texas. Once there was a large workforce of stockmen at Anna Creek, who mustered the cattle on horses. Today, light aircraft are used for spotting animals which are rounded up by stockmen riding motorbikes.

HOW MUCH AMERICANS PAY IN ELECTRICITY RATES IN EACH STATE

KALAWAO COUNTY, HAWAII

Kalawao County is the smallest county in the United States both by population (88) and land area (53 sq mi). The county encompasses the Kalaupapa or Makanalua Peninsula on the north coast of the island of Molokai. The small peninsula is isolated from the rest of Molokai by sea cliffs over a quarter-mile high. The only access to Kalawao County is by air, or by steep mule trail that descends 1,600 feet from the rest of Molokai.

The Makanalua Peninsula on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai

WIDEST MEDIANS ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

WIDEST MEDIANS ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
Interstate	Location	Width of Median
I-24	Southeast of Monteagle, Tennessee (Mile Marker 135)	1.86 Miles
I-84	Deadman Pass, Oregon (Mile Marker 226)	1.86 Miles
I-8	In-Ko-Pah Gorge, Imperial County, California (Mile Marker 123)	1.43 Miles

I-24 in Tennessee

I-84 in Oregon

I-8 in California

MILLAU VIADUCT - WORLD'S TALLEST BRIDGE

At 1,104 feet in height, the Millau Viaduct that spans the gorge valley of the Tarn near Millau in Southern France is the tallest bridge in the world. The Millau Viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Béziers and Montpellier. The cost of the construction was approximately €394 million. It was built over 3 years and formally inaugurated on December 14, 2004. The bridge has been consistently ranked as one of the great engineering achievements of all time.

NOTE: Highest measures distance from the bridge deck to the surface below. Tallest measures the structural height of the bridge tower.

Millau Viaduct over the Tarn Valley in Southern France

DUGE BRIDGE – WORLD’S HIGHEST BRIDGE

With a road deck sitting over 1,850 feet above the Beipan River, the Duge Bridge near Liupanshui in Chna is the highest bridge in the world. The bridge is part of the G5 Hangzhou-Ruili Expressway between Qujing and Liupanshui. The eastern tower measures 883 feet making it one of the tallest in the world.

NOTE: Highest measures distance from the bridge deck to the surface below. Tallest measures the structural height of the bridge tower. 

FLAG DAY (POST 1 OF 5)

Today, June 14, 2019 is Flag Day. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.

The largest free-flying* American Flag is located on the grounds of The Acuity Insurance Company in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It measures 70 feet by 140 feet. (See March 6, 2019 post for more information and picture of the Acuity Flag)

*free-flying – able to fly freely in the wind as opposed to be painted on the side of a building

Other notable flags will be covered in following 4 posts.

FLAG DAY - GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE FLAG (POST 2 OF 5)

The George Washington Bridge American Flag in Fort Lee, New Jersey is 90 feet long by 60 feet wide. When it was unfurled on Labor Day 2013, it was the largest free-flying in the world. It is displayed only on certain designated national holidays.

George Washington Bridge Flag in Fort Lee, NJ

FLAG DAY - "BIG BETSY" FLAG IN UTAH (POST 3 OF 5)

The “Big Betsy” American Flag that flew on July 4, 2015 over Grove Creek Canyon in Utah measured 78 feet by 150 feet, making it the largest American Flag to have ever been flown. It is unknown whether or not the flag will be flown again. GREAT VIDEO!

FLAG DAY - NORTH SCRANTON EXPRESSWAY AMERICAN FLAG (POST 4 OF 5)

The North Scranton Expressway American Flag in Scranton, Pennsylvania measures 90 and ½ feet by 60 and ½ feet. It was made by employees of Shea Demolition and North American Manufacturing and was first flown on July 4, 2017. The flag is flown each Fourth of July (winds permitting).

Flag made by Shea Demolition and North American Manufacturing flying on July 4, 2017 in Scranton, PA

FLAG DAY - THE GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA FLAG (POST 5 OF 5)

The Gastonia, North Carolina American Flag measures 65 feet by 114 feet. It was initially erected by the Gastonia AMVETS Post 920 in 1999. It was the world’s largest free-flying American Flag from 1999 to 2013.

MULTIPLE MAJOR SPORTS CHAPIONSHIPS IN A SEASON

In the history of North American major professional sports league championships (which include the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL), a city/metropolitan area has been home to multiple championships in a season seventeen times. Detroit is the only city to have more than two major league championship teams in a season. Philadelphia is the only city to have all four major sports teams play in their respective championship games or series in the same season (1980), though only one of the four actually won the championship.

CITIES WITH MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A SEASON
Year	City	Team	League	Team	League	Team	League
1927	New York City	Giants	NFL	Yankees	MLB
1933	New York City	Rangers	NHL	Giants	MLB
1935	Detroit	Lions	NFL	Red Wings	NHL	Tigers	MLB
1938	New York City	Giants	NFL	Yankees	MLB
1948	Cleveland	Browns	AAFC	Indians	MLB
1952	Detroit	Lions	NFL	Red Wings	NHL
1956	New York City	Giants	NFL	Yankees	MLB
1969	New York City	Jets	NFL	Mets	MLB
1970	Baltimore	Colts	NFL	Orioles	MLB
1979	Pittsburgh	Steelers	NFL	Pirates	MLB
1986	Greater New York	Giants	NFL	Mets	MLB
1988	Los Angeles	Lakers	NBA	Dodgers	MLB
2002	Greater Los Angeles	Lakers	NBA	Angels	MLB
2004	Greater Boston	Patriots	NFL	Red Sox	MLB
2007	Greater Boston	Celtics	NBA	Red Sox	MLB
2009	Pittsburgh	Steelers	NFL	Penguins	NHL
2014	Bay Area	Giants	MLB	Warriors	NBA
2018	Greater Boston	Patriots	NFL	Red Sox	MLB

WORLD'S LARGEST (VOLUME) AND TALLEST WATERFALL

The world’s largest waterfall lies beneath the Denmark Strait, which separates Iceland and Greenland. At the bottom of the strait are a series of cataracts that begin 2,000 feet under the strait’s surface and plunge to a depth of 10,000 feet at the southern tip of Greenland – nearly a two-mile drop. The waterfall is formed by the temperature differential between the water masses either side of the Denmark Strait, the eastern side being much colder than the western. Due to the different densities in the masses caused by this temperature difference, when the two masses meet along the top of the ridge of the strait, the colder, denser water flows downwards and underneath the warmer, lighter water, thus creating a downward flow of water. More than three times the height of Angel Falls in Venezuela, normally considered Earth’s tallest waterfall. The amount of water it carries is estimated at 175 million cubic feet per second. That’s equivalent to almost two thousand Niagaras at their peak.

DALLAS/FORT WORTH METRO V. STATE OF CONNECTICUT

The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area (9,286 square miles) is 1.68 times as big as Connecticut (5,542 square miles).

Connecticut overlaid onto the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area