Most of the world’s ocean coasts are somewhat problematic. Flat coastlines and extreme tidal variations expose would-be port locations to such unrelenting oceanic battering that truly epic port cities are a relative rarity. Except, that is, in the United States. The middle third of the North American continent’s Atlantic coast isn’t simply blessed by an egregious number of indentations that make siting port cities child’s play; most of those port locations are then positioned behind peninsulas or barrier islands that shield America’s coasts even more.
