5 U.S. Cities That Span Multiple States

Technically speaking, every city in the U.S. is part of one state and one state only. In practice, however, several cities share the same name and are located right next to each other on opposite sides of state borders. These twin cities are linked by a shared history and culture that unites them more than lines on a map divide them, and most are found in the South and Midwest. Below, discover five U.S. cities that cross state lines.

Bristol, Tennessee and Virginia

You could easily pass from one Bristol to the next without realizing it, as the twin cities share a downtown district. The border dividing them is in the middle of State Street. The distinction was much clearer in the 1850s, when Bristol, Tennessee, was established as a railroad junction and trading town. Goodsonville, Virginia, followed not long after. By the time the latter officially changed its name in 1890, the two had already become two sides of the same coin. They even welcome visitors with a single sign that was first erected in 1910 and describes both halves of Bristol as “a good place to live.”

Due to how many important artists recorded some of their first music there, Congress recognized the twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee, and Bristol, Virginia, as the Birthplace of Country Music in 1998. A museum of the same name has celebrated that legacy since 2014.

Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas

Perhaps the most famous example of a metropolitan area that spans state lines is Kansas City — especially because the bigger of the two isn’t in Kansas. The 38th-most populous city in the country is also the sixth-most populous city in the Midwest, with just over 500,000 Missouri residents enjoying KC’s famous barbecue, as well as its three major sports teams: the Chiefs (football), Royals (baseball), and Sporting Kansas City (soccer). 

On the other side of the state line is Kansas City, Kansas, which was incorporated in 1872 — 22 years after its counterpart — and has a population of 156,000 people. Had the Missouri city not changed its name from Town of Kansas to City of Kansas in 1853, before finally becoming Kansas City in 1889, there might be less confusion today between the two cities, which are located at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers.

Texarkana, Texas and Arkansas

As you might have guessed from its name, Texarkana spans Texas and Arkansas. The two cities hold the distinction of being the site of the only federal building in the country that straddles two states: the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, which is located between Fifth Street and Sixth Street on State Line Avenue. True to its name, the avenue marks the border between Texas and Arkansas. With a combined population of just over 65,000, the twin cities are part of the Texarkana metropolitan area, along with Bowie County, Texas, and Miller County, Arkansas.

Texhoma, Texas and Oklahoma

With a similarly unimaginative name, the twin towns of Texhoma are home to just over 1,100 people combined. The Oklahoma side is responsible for the lion’s share of that pint-sized population — perhaps because of a 1932 survey that redrew the border 465 feet south and resulted in the bank, post office, and several businesses “moving” from Texas to Oklahoma without actually moving. Texhoma is situated in Oklahoma’s Panhandle, a sparsely populated region also known as No Man’s Land.

Union City, Indiana and Ohio

There’s a reason so many train stations are called Union Station: Their tracks are shared by multiple rail companies whose services converge — or, you might say, unite — there. In Indiana and Ohio, the name Union City is shared between two cities, and their joint nickname is Hub City because two railroads intersected there. About 5,000 people live in both towns, with the Indiana half having been established in 1849, 11 years before its twin. It’s also home to the Union City Public Library, a Carnegie library that opened in 1905 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.