Why Does Michigan Have Such A Weird Border With Ohio and Indiana?

If you've ever looked at a map where Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio meet and share a border, you might have asked yourself, "How the heck did it end up like that?"

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Turns out there are several different theories as to how it all came together

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Why Does Michigan Have Such A Weird Border With Ohio and Indiana?

I never really gave much thought to Michigan's borders with Ohio and Indiana, but after seeing someone ask about it on Reddit, I became curious myself.

Looking at the current border without any background or historical information, it appears as though it wasn't measured correctly.

After doing some research online I was able to find some information explaining how the weird state borders we're created but I'm still a bit confused myself.

Why Is Indiana Higher Up Than Ohio

When you look at the map, you'll notice that Indiana's northern border, where it meets Michigan, is higher than Ohio's.

Credit: aRecklessSpeculator via Reddit

The reason for this is that in 1816, when Indiana was set to become a state, it had an issue with access to Lake Michigan.

Indiana was able to work out a deal to get 10 miles of land from Michigan, which would give it more access to Lake Michigan and help with its economic future.

What Is The Toledo Strip

The other piece of this weird border puzzle is the border where Michigan and Ohio meet.

This piece of land known as the Toledo Strip was a very important piece of land for several reasons.

One reason the Toledo Strip was so highly sought after was its access to the Maumee River, which was extremely important for shipping products and goods.

Another reason was that to the west of Toledo was very nice farmland, which was also important for the economic development of both states.

Thankfully, after the Toledo War, both sides came together and worked out a deal that would give Ohio the Toledo Strip, and in exchange, Michigan would end up getting the Upper Peninsula.

In my opinion, Michigan got the better end of the deal.

I'm not sure if that explains everything, but hopefully you have a better understanding of the weird state borders that Michigan shares with Ohio and Indiana.