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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fairbank, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fairbank 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 Fairbank:
    • 42.640135, -92.048504
    • 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 Fairbank
  • 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 Buchanan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
    • Since Fairbank is near Fayette County and also Bremer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Fairbank

Communities Also Named Fairbank ...

We found seven communities that are also named Fairbank.

Within Iowa, the name Fairbank is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Cochise County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arizona community of Fairbank [Cochise County].
    • Maryland
      • Talbot County
      • This Fairbank is located in Talbot County and lies 865 miles [1,392.1 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Fairbank that is located in Buchanan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Talbot County community of Fairbank.
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This Fairbank lies 1,831 miles [2,946.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Fairbank that is located in Buchanan County.
    • Ontario
      • 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 Ontario community of Fairbank.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Fayette County
      • This Fairbank is located in Fayette County and lies 659 miles [1,060.6 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Fairbank that is located in Buchanan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Fairbank.
    • South Dakota
      • Sully 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 South Dakota community of Fairbank [Sully County].
    • Wyoming
      • Laramie 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 Wyoming community of Fairbank [Laramie County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fairbank ...

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.

  • Big Rock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Rock is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
  • Edwards ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Edwards is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
  • Glasgow ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Glasgow is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow
  • Hilltop
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Hilltop is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Independence
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Klinger
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Klinger is located in Bremer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klinger
  • Littleton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Littleton is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
  • Miner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Miner is located in Bremer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miner
  • Otterville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Otterville is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otterville
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Raymond
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Raymond is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 788 people
    • Spring Fountain
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Fountain is located in Bremer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Fountain
    • Stanley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Stanley is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Tripoli
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Vista
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Vista is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
    • Wise
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Wise is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise

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

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

  • Independence, which is the Seat of Buchanan County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Fairbank to Independence, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 107 miles [172.2 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 825 miles [1,327.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,301 miles [10,140.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,050 miles [11,345.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,945 miles [7,958.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Fairbank, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fairbank) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Fairbank 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 Fairbank 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 Fairbank. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6401, Longitude: -92.0485       In this case, the coordinates for Fairbank have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.426 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.852 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.597 degrees.