Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Coster, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Coster and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Coster
- 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 Coster:
- 42.671662, -92.712141
- 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 Coster
- 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 Butler County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Butler County
- Since Coster is near Black Hawk County and also Bremer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Black Hawk County
- eBird sighting report for Bremer 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 Coster ...
We found three communities that share the name Coster.
Within Iowa, the name Coster is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Coster ...
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.
- Clarksville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
- Clarksville is located in Butler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,333 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarksville <4>
- Dairyville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dairyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dairyville
- Dairyville is located in Grundy County
- Eleanor
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Fern
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
- Fern is located in Grundy County
- Finchford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchford
- Finchford is located in Black Hawk County
- Janesville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
- Janesville is located in Black Hawk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 996 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Janesville <4>
- Packard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Pilot Rock
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilot Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Rock
- Pilot Rock is located in Butler County
- Shell Rock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shell Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Rock
- Shell Rock is located in Butler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,268 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shell Rock <4>
- Stout
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stout
- Stout is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
How Far From Coster 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 Coster to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Coster and extending to:
- Allison, which is the Seat of Butler County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 87 miles [140 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Coster to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>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 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 858 miles [1,380.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,322 miles [10,174.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,072 miles [11,381.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,969 miles [7,996.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Coster. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Butler County: www.butlercoiowa.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
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 Coster 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Coster) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Coster. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6717, Longitude: -92.7121 In this case, the coordinates for Coster have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Coster 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 317.885 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.382 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.934 degrees. |