It's interesting to me how you can tell red states from blue states based on how their counties are divided. Up north is nice, squared, organized. But once you get into Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, the county lines drastically change to a chaotic, gerrymandered mess.

[–] ViperActual@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I'm surprised no one has brought it up so far. This is from way back when the US was still expanding east to west. Land Ordinance of 1785

It was literally just a means of dividing up the land to make it easier to manage. This is why much of the plains states follow such rectangular county/state lines between water geography.

Edit: States that had their counties/borders established before this act will have more organic geography following boundaries. Counties/States settled after 1785 will display this grid-like pattern.

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