----------------------------Original message---------------------------- There appear to be a number of U.S. counties that consist entirely of islands: In Hawaii there are Hawaii, Honolulu, and Kauai. Maui County consists of a number of whole islands and most of the island of Molokai; the remainder of Molokai is the small county of Kalawao (a leper colony). Massachusetts has Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Is.) and Nantucket (covering the island of the same name). New York has New York County (Manhattan I.) and Richmond County (Staten I.) In Washington the northwest corner of the state is San Juan County, all islands. I think that is all there are. A couple of other counties look a lot like islands only, but I believe each has a land connection to the mainland or takes in a bit of the main: Island County in Washington and Grand Isle County in Vermont There were others in the past that are now gone. The province of New York had its Dukes County (1683-1691), which consisted of today's Massachusetts islands of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the Elizabeths. In the same region, Rhode Island's Newport County covered only islands in Naragansett Bay from 1703 to 1747, when it added some mainland on the east. In the nineteenth century Michigan had two counties composed of only islands: Isle Royale in Lake Superior stood alone as a county from 1875-1897, and from 1855 to 1895 the county of Manitou covered the islands in the north end of Lake Michigan. I pulled the historical information from our Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, but the current information is easy to find in almost any modern atlas or on a map of counties, such as the Census Bureau publishes. In return I have a question. What is your faculty member looking for? What is special about island counties? John H. Long, Editor Atlas of Historical County Boundaries The Newberry Library 60 W. Walton St. Chicago, IL 60610 Tel: 312-255-3602