RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Wightman, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wightman and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Wightman:
    • 42.233326, -94.610130
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Wightman
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Wightman ...

We found two communities that share the name Wightman.

Within Iowa, the name Wightman is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Missouri
      • Barry County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Wightman [Barry County].
    • Virginia
      • Mecklenburg County
      • This Wightman is located in Mecklenburg County and lies 944 miles [1,519.2 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Wightman that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mecklenburg County community of Wightman.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wightman ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Dana
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dana have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
    • Dana is located in Greene County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
  • Gravel Pit
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gravel Pit have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Pit
    • Gravel Pit is located in Greene County
  • Hart
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hart have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
    • Hart is located in Sac County
  • Jolley
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jolley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolley
    • Jolley is located in Calhoun County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 37 people
  • Lake City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
    • Lake City is located in Calhoun County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,604 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake City <4>
  • Lena
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lena
    • Lena is located in Webster County
  • Maple River
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple River
    • Maple River is located in Carroll County
  • Piper
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piper have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piper
    • Piper is located in Calhoun County
  • Richard
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richard
    • Richard is located in Calhoun County
  • Twin Lakes
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Twin Lakes is located in Calhoun County

How Far From Wightman to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Wightman to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Wightman and extending to:

  • Rockwell City, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Wightman to Rockwell City, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 948 miles [1,525.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,409 miles [10,314.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,161 miles [11,524.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,062 miles [8,146.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Wightman. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Wightman could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wightman) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wightman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2333, Longitude: -94.6101    
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<6>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Wightman to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.196 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.827 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.028 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024