How Many Corners Are There? Seven Corners, Four Corners, and More Corners

So, as we drove past Seven Corners (Virginia) yesterday, I asked something which I don't remember pondering before--after over 40 years living here--where did it get its name? And then, further pondered--after then thinking of Four Corners--how many other numbered geographic "Corners" are there? My wife mentioned remembering a Five Corners growing up in Connecticut, but that's as far as we got. This seemed to call for some wondering.

The first question was easily answered. The Wikipedia article tells us that "[t]he change of place name [formerly Fort Buffalo] in the 1950s came about due to the construction of Lee Memorial Boulevard, now known as Arlington Boulevard (U.S. Route 50). The construction of Route 50 caused the formation of a seven cornered intersection—or did until the mouth of Wilson Boulevard was rerouted slightly to avoid all those roadways converging on a single point."  Googling then led me to the follow clear image:

So What About Other Numbered Corners?

Given Wikipedia's strength with places, I started there, and only venture into Google-land when that was getting me nowhere. Let us do them in numerical order.

(1) I figured that there probably isn't any place just known as One Corner (and Googling that is basically impossible), but Wikipedia does lead me to Corner, Alabama--which is "located in Jefferson County at the intersection of Jefferson County, Walker County, and Blount County, hence the name."  


In addition, while I was going to rule out "The Corner," since almost every neighborhood might have a "the corner" where folks can meet up, I was surprised to find that the one "The Corner" with which I was familiar--in Charlottesville, Virginia--also rated a Wikipedia article ("The district was originally a literal corner, where the university's main entrance intersected with Three Chopt Road (now Main Street), which was the major route between Staunton and Richmond. ").

(2) Struck out real quickly on "Two Corners." So, I expanded my search to "Double Corners" and "Twin Corners." The latter, via Google, only led me to the Twin Corners RV Park in Stonewall, Louisiana (outside of Shreveport).

(3) Even though my parents lived in Richmond for many years, and I have been in this area, I must admit that I had never heard of the Three Corners District: "the area bound by Broad Street to the south, The Boulevard to the west, and Hermitage Road to the east. It receives its name from the triangular shape of the area, with notable landmarks situated near each of the three intersections."

(4) This is probably the most well-know numbered corner, so that it required no searching--Four Corners.  As stated in Wikipedia: "The Four Corners is a region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area is named after the quadripoint at the intersection of approximately 37° north latitude with 109° 03' west longitude, where the boundaries of the four states meet, and are marked by the Four Corners Monument. It is the only location in the United States where four states meet. "

However, Wikipedia will also send you to many other "Four Corners"! 

(5) Wikipedia let me to a disambiguation page for Five Corners, although it listed none in Connecticut.  The largest list is just for intersections, but the Wikipedia article for one of them, Five Corners, Newark, calls it an unincorporated area within the city: "It is the local name of an intersection of five streets in the Ironbound section of Newark, including Wilson Avenue, Merchant Street, Ferry Street (the Ironbound's best-known street) and East Ferry Street." It is also the location in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds where the aliens first appear.

Listed a place, but not an intersection is  Five Corners, Washington (a "census designated space"), but Wikipedia gives no explanation for the name.  

As for Connecticut, Google did point me to a Five Corners area in Farmington, so maybe that's what she remembers.

(6) There is a double hit in Wikipedia for Six Corners: The Six Corners neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Six Corners in Chicago. The latter is "shopping district in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago's Northwest Side," which takes its name "from the intersection of three streets—Irving Park Road, Cicero Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue." The former is unexplained in Wikipedia. 

(7) Wikipedia nicely cross-referred me to another Seven Corners: This in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, but doesn't really explain the name: "The junction of Washington Avenue, Cedar Avenue, and 19th Avenue was known as Seven Corners."

(8) OK...we are up to Eight Corners, Wisconsin-- an unincorporated community in the town of Sigel, Wood County, Wisconsin, United States, which was originally built up at a eight-pointed intersection.

(9) Are we stretching this post by including a geographic name? NO, so let's hear it for Nine Corner Lake in New York State.  However, researching so far has turned up no reason why a lake has nine corners, although I did find that there is another lake--Naukuchiatal in India--which apparently has nine corners, too!

(10) ?

(11) ?

So, two blanks in a row, and running out of gas,--do we keep going?  Good thing I did, because I do get two more winners:

(12) Twelve Corners, Wisconsin: an unincorporated community in the town of Center in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. But Google also leads us to the Twelve Corners area in Rochester, NY: "where Elmwood Avenue, Monroe Avenue, and South Winton Road intersect each other pairwise, forming a triangular island, and — count them — twelve corners."

(13) It may be dicey, not Thirteen Corners Road shows up in Section Thirty, Minnesota.

(14) to infinity and beyond! No more numbered geographical corners, so far ....