Border Changes At Minnesota’s Northwest Angle– Wait, What’s The Northwest Angle?

Minnesota's Northwest Angle just made news for some updated changes at its border crossing with Canada, but that story got me wondering, just WHAT the Northwest Angle actually is...

The Northwest Angle is a part of Minnesota that’s really more like Canada. To get there, you have to go through Canada. But it’s still part of the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, it's been in the news again recently because of some updates at the border crossing into Canada that will make it easier for residents to get around. Which makes sense. Because the Northwest Angle itself doesn't make much sense.

According to this CBS This Morning story, the Northwest Angle is the part of Minnesota that’s the “little sticky-uppy bit at the top of the state that juts into Canada.” The story says it looks like somebody put that a “substantial part of Minnesota into Canada by mistake.”

And, as it turns out, that’s pretty much what happened. The story explains that the what’s now known as ‘the Angle,’ was created “in 1783 during the Treaty of Paris. The border being drawn between the U.S. and then Britain was supposed to cut through Lake of the Woods at a northwest angle — hence the name. Problem was, the map the Founding Fathers used of Lake of the Woods was completely wrong. They were way off, but that weird boundary bump stuck.”

Now, the Northwest Angle is pretty much just a very wild, desolate part of Minnesota only accessible through Canada. And, while it’s known for its fishing culture, it’s also known as the the northernmost point in the continental United States.

Here's more on the story, courtesy of CBS News...