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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dana 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 Dana:
    • 42.107303, -94.238897
    • 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 Dana
  • 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 Greene County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Since Dana is near Boone County and also Webster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Boone County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Webster 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 Dana

Communities Also Named Dana ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Dana.

Within Iowa, the name Dana is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Shasta County
      • This Dana is located in Shasta County and lies 1,406 miles [2,262.7 km]<1> to the west of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Dana.
    • Florida
      • Union County
      • This Dana is located in Union County and lies 1,066 miles [1,715.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Dana.
    • Illinois
      • La Salle County
      • This Dana is located in La Salle County and lies 284 miles [457.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Salle County community of Dana.
    • Indiana
      • Vermillion County
      • This Dana is located in Vermillion County and lies 385 miles [619.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vermillion County community of Dana.
    • Kentucky
      • Floyd County
      • This Dana is located in Floyd County and lies 687 miles [1,105.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Dana.
    • Massachusetts
      • Worcester County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Massachusetts community of Dana [Worcester County].
    • Michigan
      • Ingham County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Dana [Ingham County].
      • Montmorency County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Dana [Montmorency County].
    • Missouri
      • Bates County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Bates County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bates County community of Dana.
    • North Carolina
      • Henderson County
      • This Dana is located in Henderson County and lies 790 miles [1,271.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Dana.
    • North Dakota
      • Emmons County
      • This Dana is located in Emmons County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Emmons County community of Dana.
    • Ontario
      • This Dana lies 673 miles [1,083.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Dana lies 883 miles [1,421.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
    • Wyoming
      • Carbon County
      • This Dana is located in Carbon County and lies 639 miles [1,028.4 km]<1> to the west of the Dana that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carbon County community of Dana.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dana ...

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.

  • Beaver
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Beaver is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
  • Centerville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Centerville is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Coal Valley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Coal Valley is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley
  • Cooper
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Grand Junction
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Gravel Pit
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gravel Pit is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Pit
  • Lena
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Lena is located in Webster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lena
  • Palm Grove
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Pilot Mound
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Wolf
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Wolf is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf

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

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

  • Jefferson, which is the Seat of Greene County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Dana to Jefferson, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 928 miles [1,493.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 53 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,403 miles [10,304.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,154 miles [11,513.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,053 miles [8,132 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dana) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Dana, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Dana 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.
<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 Dana 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 Dana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1073, Longitude: -94.2389       In this case, the coordinates for Dana have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.932 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.508 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.863 degrees.