RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Jefferson County >> Beckwith >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Beckwith, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Beckwith 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 Beckwith:
    • 41.009188, -91.864615
    • 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 Beckwith
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Beckwith is near Henry County and also Van Buren County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Buren 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 Beckwith

Communities Also Named Beckwith ...

We found ten communities that are also named Beckwith.

Within Iowa, the name Beckwith is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, eight are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Plumas 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 California community of Beckwith [Plumas County].
    • Illinois
      • Vermilion 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 Illinois community of Beckwith [Vermilion County].
    • North Carolina
      • Beaufort County
      • This Beckwith is located in Beaufort County and lies 899 miles [1,446.8 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Beckwith that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaufort County community of Beckwith.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Beckwith lies 1,437 miles [2,312.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Beckwith that is located in Jefferson County.
    • Oklahoma
      • Delaware County
      • This Beckwith is located in Delaware County and lies 366 miles [589 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Beckwith that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Beckwith.
    • Ontario
      • This Beckwith lies 841 miles [1,353.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Beckwith that is located in Jefferson County.
    • Tennessee
      • Wilson County
      • This Beckwith is located in Wilson County and lies 441 miles [709.7 km]<2> to the southeast of the Beckwith that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Beckwith.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Beckwith is located in Fayette County and lies 604 miles [972 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Beckwith that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Beckwith.
    • Wyoming
      • Lincoln County
      • This Beckwith is located in Lincoln County and lies 988 miles [1,590 km]<2> to the west of the Beckwith that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Beckwith.
      • Uinta 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 Wyoming community of Beckwith [Uinta County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Beckwith ...

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.

  • Eureka ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Eureka is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Germanville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Germanville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germanville
  • Glasgow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Glasgow is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow
  • Grace Hill
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Grace Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Hill
  • Harrisburg
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Harrisburg is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Libertyville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Libertyville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
  • Mount Pleasant
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Noble
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Noble is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble
  • Parksville ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Parksville is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksville
  • Pierceville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Pierceville is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
  • Pleasant Plain
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Plain is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plain
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
  • Swedesburg
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Swedesburg is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedesburg

How Far From Beckwith to ...

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

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

  • Fairfield, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the West.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Beckwith to Des Moines, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 797 miles [1,282.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,378 miles [10,264.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,122 miles [11,461.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,011 miles [8,064.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Beckwith 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Beckwith) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Beckwith 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 Beckwith. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0092, Longitude: -91.8646       In this case, the coordinates for Beckwith have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.265 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.448 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.903 degrees.