So I did some reading on highways. If you want, you can start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbered_highways_in_the_United_States

But that isn't what I wanted to mention. I discovered the purpose of counties. They manage unincorporated areas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unincorporated_area

It turns out that pretty much the whole north east (and all of NJ) is covered by municipalities (towns), and thus counties aren't very strong. But apparently out west they are used a lot more, as there are areas which aren't part of any town. I like how being from NJ it seems insane to me that there would be be an area which isn't part of a town or city. In theory I guess this would mean you wouldn't pay property tax.


http://www.b3ta.com/links/An_Engineers_Guide_to_Cats