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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cass, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cass 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 Cass:
    • 42.194721, -91.345714
    • 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 Cass
  • 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 Jones County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jones County
    • Since Cass is near Linn County and also Delaware County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Linn County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Delaware 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 Cass

Communities Also Named Cass ...

We found nine communities that are also named Cass.

Within Iowa, the name Cass is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Franklin County
      • This Cass is located in Franklin County and lies 468 miles [753.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Cass that is located in Jones County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Cass.
    • Georgia
      • Bartow County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Cass [Bartow County].
    • Illinois
      • Cass County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Cass [Cass County].
    • Indiana
      • Cass County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Cass [Cass County].
      • Sullivan County
      • This Cass is located in Sullivan County and lies 302 miles [486 km]<1> to the southeast of the Cass that is located in Jones County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of Cass.
    • New York
      • Erie County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Cass [Erie County].
    • Ohio
      • Hancock County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Hancock County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Cass.
    • Texas
      • Cass County
      • This Cass is located in Cass County and lies 638 miles [1,026.8 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Cass that is located in Jones County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of Cass.
    • West Virginia
      • Pocahontas County
      • This Cass is located in Pocahontas County and lies 655 miles [1,054.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cass that is located in Jones County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pocahontas County community of Cass.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cass ...

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.

  • Amber
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Amber is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
  • Downers Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Downers Grove is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downers Grove
  • Edinburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Edinburg is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edinburg
  • Jordans Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jordans Grove is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordans Grove
  • Junction Switch
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Junction Switch is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction Switch
  • Paris ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Paris is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
  • Prairieburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Prairieburg is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 190 people
  • Rogers
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Rogers is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
  • Sand Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sand Springs is located in Delaware County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Springs
  • Scotch Grove
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Springhole
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Springhole is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springhole
  • Stone City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Stone City is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone City

How Far From Cass 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 Cass to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Anamosa, which is the Seat of Jones County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 123 miles [197.9 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Cass to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 783 miles [1,260.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,300 miles [10,138.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,046 miles [11,339.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,938 miles [7,946.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Cass) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Cass 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.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Cass, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Cass 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 Cass. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1947, Longitude: -91.3457       In this case, the coordinates for Cass have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.937 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.233 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.348 degrees.