Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Commerce, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Commerce and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Commerce
- 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 Commerce:
- 41.541224, -93.765053
- 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 Commerce
- 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Since Commerce is near Warren County and also Dallas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Warren County
- eBird sighting report for Dallas 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Commerce ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Commerce.
Within Iowa, the name Commerce is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arizona
- California
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Commerce ...
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.
- Carbondale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbondale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
- Carbondale is located in Polk County
- Churchville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchville
- Churchville is located in Warren County
- DeSoto
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeSoto
- DeSoto is located in Dallas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,061 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for DeSoto <4>
- Pleasant Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,025 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant Hill <4>
- Rider
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Scotch Ridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotch Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotch Ridge
- Scotch Ridge is located in Warren County
- Summerset
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Summerset Junction ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerset Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset Junction
- Summerset Junction is located in Warren County
- Valley Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Junction
- Valley Junction is located in Polk County
- Wick
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
How Far From Commerce 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 Commerce to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Commerce and extending to:
- Des Moines, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies just to the east northeast (ENE).
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 899 miles [1,446.8 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Commerce to White House, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 51 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,417 miles [10,327.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,166 miles [11,532.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,061 miles [8,144.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Commerce. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.ia.us/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
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- Commerce) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Commerce. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5412, Longitude: -93.7651 In this case, the coordinates for Commerce have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Commerce 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> | 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 Commerce 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 318.585 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.035 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.744 degrees. |