RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Putnam County >> Rodman >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Rodman:
    • 29.538303, -81.756195
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Rodman
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Putnam County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Putnam County
    • Since Rodman is near Marion County and also Flagler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Flagler County
  • 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Rodman

Communities Also Named Rodman ...

We found five communities that are also named Rodman.

Within Florida, the name Rodman is unique.

Beyond Florida, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • 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 Alaska community of Rodman.
    • Iowa
      • Palo Alto County
      • This Rodman is located in Palo Alto County and lies 1,168 miles [1,879.7 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Rodman that is located in Putnam County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Palo Alto County community of Rodman.
    • New York
      • Jefferson County
      • This Rodman is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,038 miles [1,670.5 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Rodman that is located in Putnam County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Rodman.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Blair County
      • This Rodman is located in Blair County and lies 769 miles [1,237.6 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Rodman that is located in Putnam County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blair County community of Rodman.
    • South Carolina
      • Chester County
      • This Rodman is located in Chester County and lies 363 miles [584.2 km]<2> to the north of the Rodman that is located in Putnam County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chester County community of Rodman.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rodman ...

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.

  • Buffalo Bluff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Buffalo Bluff is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Bluff
  • Francis
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Francis is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
  • Fruitland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fruitland is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
  • Hog Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Hog Valley is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hog Valley
  • Hunter
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hunter is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
  • John Broward Grant
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • John Broward Grant is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for John Broward Grant
  • Johns Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Johns Ferry is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johns Ferry
  • Lands End Ranch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Lands End Ranch is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lands End Ranch
  • Mannville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mannville is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannville
  • Possum Bluff
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Possum Bluff is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possum Bluff

How Far From Rodman to ...

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

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

  • Palatka, which is the Seat of Putnam County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rodman to Palatka, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 163 miles [262.3 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 699 miles [1,124.9 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,515 miles [10,484.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,190 miles [11,571.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,084 miles [8,181.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Rodman 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rodman) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Rodman to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rodman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.5383, Longitude: -81.7562       In this case, the coordinates for Rodman have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.563 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.138 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.321 degrees.