Not entirely pertinent to the discussion of city boundaries but Mark Stein wrote an interesting book a few years ago called "How the States Got their Shapes" [0]. It was apparently also made into a show on the History Channel.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/How-States-Got-Their-Shapes/dp/006143...

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http://www.amazon.com/How-States-Their-Shapes-ebook/dp/B001N...