RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Forest City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Forest 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 Forest City:
    • 43.485244, -92.238223
    • 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 Forest City
  • 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 Forest City ...

We found nineteen communities that share the name Forest City.

There is one other community in Iowa which is also named Forest City.

Beyond Iowa, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eighteen communities, eighteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Iowa ...
    • Winnebago County
      • This Forest City is located in Winnebago County and lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Winnebago County community of Forest City.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Orange County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Forest City [Orange County].
      • Seminole County
      • This Forest City is located in Seminole County and lies 1,185 miles [1,907.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Seminole County community of Forest City.
    • Illinois
      • Mason County
      • This Forest City is located in Mason County and lies 247 miles [397.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mason County community of Forest City.
    • Indiana
      • Jasper County
      • This Forest City is located in Jasper County and lies 298 miles [479.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jasper County community of Forest City.
    • Maine
      • Washington County
      • This Forest City is located in Washington County and lies 1,210 miles [1,947.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Forest City.
    • Michigan
      • Manistee County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Forest City [Manistee County].
    • Minnesota
      • Meeker County
      • This Forest City is located in Meeker County and lies 161 miles [259.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meeker County community of Forest City.
    • Missouri
      • Holt County
      • This Forest City is located in Holt County and lies 285 miles [458.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Holt County community of Forest City.
      • Saint Louis County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Forest City [Saint Louis County].
    • Montana
      • Missoula County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Forest City [Missoula County].
    • New Brunswick
      • This Forest City lies 1,209 miles [1,945.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
    • New York
      • Lewis County
      • This Forest City is located in Lewis County and lies 837 miles [1,347 km]<1> to the east of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis County community of Forest City.
    • North Carolina
      • Rutherford County
      • This Forest City is located in Rutherford County and lies 788 miles [1,268.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutherford County community of Forest City.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Susquehanna County
      • This Forest City is located in Susquehanna County and lies 860 miles [1,384 km]<1> to the east of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Susquehanna County community of Forest City.
    • South Dakota
      • Potter County
      • This Forest City is located in Potter County and lies 412 miles [663 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Forest City that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Potter County community of Forest City.
    • Utah
      • Utah County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Utah County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Utah County community of Forest City.
    • Washington
      • Kitsap County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Forest City [Kitsap County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Bayfield County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Forest City [Bayfield County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Forest 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.

  • Big Spring
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
    • Big Spring is located in Fillmore County (MN)
  • Chester
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Florenceville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florenceville
    • Florenceville is located in Howard County
  • Forestville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forestville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
    • Forestville is located in Fillmore County (MN)
  • Harmony
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmony have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
    • Harmony is located in Fillmore County (MN)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 982 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harmony <5>
  • Le Roy
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Le Roy have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Roy
    • Le Roy is located in Mower County (MN)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 932 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Le Roy <5>
  • Lime Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Maple Leaf
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Leaf have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Leaf
    • Maple Leaf is located in Howard County

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Forest City once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Forest City and extending to:

  • Cresco, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Forest City to Cresco, with an average speed<6> 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 148 miles [238.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 849 miles [1,366.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,265 miles [10,082.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,015 miles [11,289.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,914 miles [7,908.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Forest City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Forest City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4852, Longitude: -92.2382       In this case, the coordinates for Forest City 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 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 Forest City 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>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 Forest City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>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.
<7>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 Forest City to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.568 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.128 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.48 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024