RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Appanoose County >> Coal City >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Coal City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Coal City 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 Coal City:
    • 40.597244, -92.718806
    • 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 Coal City
  • 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 Appanoose County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Appanoose County
    • Since Coal City is near Putnam County and also Schuyler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Putnam County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuyler 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 Coal City

Communities Also Named Coal City ...

We found six communities that are also named Coal City.

Within Iowa, the name Coal City is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Coal City is located in Saint Clair County and lies 596 miles [959.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Coal City that is located in Appanoose County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Coal City.
    • Illinois
      • Grundy County
      • This Coal City is located in Grundy County and lies 236 miles [379.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Coal City that is located in Appanoose County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grundy County community of Coal City.
    • Indiana
      • Owen County
      • This Coal City is located in Owen County and lies 314 miles [505.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Coal City that is located in Appanoose County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Owen County community of Coal City.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Venango County
      • This Coal City is located in Venango County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the east of the Coal City that is located in Appanoose County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Venango County community of Coal City.
    • Utah
      • Carbon County
      • This Coal City is located in Carbon County and lies 966 miles [1,554.6 km]<1> to the west of the Coal City that is located in Appanoose County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carbon County community of Coal City.
    • West Virginia
      • Raleigh County
      • This Coal City is located in Raleigh County and lies 647 miles [1,041.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Coal City that is located in Appanoose County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Raleigh County community of Coal City.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Coal City ...

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.

  • Chapel
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Chapel is located in Putnam County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel
  • Coatsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Coatsville is located in Schuyler County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coatsville
  • Dean
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Dean is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
  • Graysville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Graysville is located in Putnam County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graysville
  • Julesburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Julesburg is located in Schuyler County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julesburg
  • Lickskillet
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Lickskillet is located in Putnam County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
  • Mark
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Mark is located in Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mark
  • Orleans
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Orleans is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
  • Pearl City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Pearl City is located in Putnam County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
  • Thirty
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Thirty is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thirty

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

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

  • Centerville, which is the Seat of Appanoose County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Coal City to Centerville, with an average speed<2> 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 83 miles [133.6 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 839 miles [1,350.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,429 miles [10,346.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,174 miles [11,545.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,064 miles [8,149.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Coal City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Coal City 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 Coal City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5972, Longitude: -92.7188       In this case, the coordinates for Coal City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.833 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.046 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.425 degrees.