User:CitrusHemlock/Southwick Jog

The Southwick Jog, also called the Notch, is an approximately 2.5-square-mile salient in the U.S. state of Massachusetts that dips into Connecticut. The border anomaly was originally created in 1642 after an improperly performed land survey, and its ownership was by fought over by the two states in the subsequent decades. In 1804 a final compromise was reached, with Massachusetts ceding much of the jog to Connecticut, but keeping the land which forms the modern-day jog. In the years since the border was resolved, several local folk tales have been created about the jog's origin, and a satirical online movement hoping that Connecticut will "take back the notch" has formed.

History

Initial survey

A 1713 map of the border, depicting contemporary and past claims.

After the founding of Hartford, Connecticut in 1635 and Springfield, Massachusetts in 1636, colonists began rapidly settling the region. Soon the western boundry of the two states became a pressing issue, and so in 1642, the Massachusetts Bay Colony hired two surveyors, Nathaniel Woodward and Solomon Saffery, to map the border. The border was described in the Massachusetts Charter as heading due west from a point three miles south of the southernmost point of the Charles River. Thus, instead of directly west from the starting point, the surveyors attempted to save time by sailing into Long Island Sound, and up the Connecticut River, where they believed would stake the western end of the border at the same latitude as the eastern end. However, they fixed the line much father south than described in the Charter, raging between 4 and 7 miles too far. While Connecticut protested the survey at 1649 meeting between the colonies, they had no proof it was incorrect, and no charter demarcating their own border.

Subsequent surveys

The creation of The Connecticut Charter of 1662, which delineated Connecticut's borders, and the founding of Enfield and Suffield increased the importance of the border in subsequent decades. After Massachusetts denied a joint survey, Connecticut hired John Butler and William Whitney to resurvey the land. The survey took place in 1695, and while it convulsively found the line to be too far south, Massachusetts rejected the results, considering the line to be fine as it was.

On 9 May 1700 Connecticut offered to settle the line as it was originally surveyed, on the condition that they would take land a mile north of the line when it reached within twelve miles of the Connecticut River. Massachusetts rejected the offer, demanding that the line be pushed south, and the town of Woodstock split between the two states be fully placed under Massachusetts ownership. Negotiations subsequently stalled.

Culture

In the years after the border was resolved, people living around the jog began creating folklore and urban legends to explain the existence of the unusual border. Some stories are that the surveyors had been drunk during the border's creation, or that it was so Massachusetts didn't slide into the Atlantic Ocean.

On Reddit, a movement has formed for Connecticut to "take back the Notch", with t-shirts and other merchandise being found in the region advocating for the same cause. In modern times, the competition over the jog is mostly playful.

References

Bibliography

• Dodge, Edward (1970). "The Southwick Jog" (PDF). Southwick Massachusetts. Retrieved 30 August 2024.

• Griswold, Erwin (1939). "Hunting Boundaries with Car and Camera in the Northeastern United States". Geographical Studies. 29 (3). Taylor & Francis. JSTOR 209879.

• Bowen, Clarence (1882). The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.