Kentucky Bend: A Border Glitch (with music)

There’s a piece of Kentucky completely cut off from the rest of the state and it shouldn’t

exist at all. This tiny area is called the Kentucky Bend, and it’s a U.S.

geographic glitch. The problem starts with the Mississippi River, which makes a massive

looping turn here — almost trapping land inside itself. In the late 1700s, borders were drawn

using rivers as boundaries, based on rough maps and limited surveys. Kentucky’s border

was defined by a latitude line, but the Mississippi didn’t cooperate. As the river slowly

moved and tightened its loop, it wrapped around a piece of Kentucky land.

The result? A chunk of Kentucky that can only be reached by driving through Tennessee.