RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for Iowa





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:
    • 43.263455, -93.638319
    • 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 ...
    • Howard 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 Iowa community of Forest City [Howard County].
  • 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 1,213 miles [1,952.1 km]<3> to the southeast of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 279 miles [449 km]<3> to the southeast of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 355 miles [571.3 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 1,281 miles [2,061.6 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 140 miles [225.3 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 240 miles [386.2 km]<3> to the south southwest of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 1,281 miles [2,061.6 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago County.
    • New York
      • Lewis County
      • This Forest City is located in Lewis County and lies 909 miles [1,462.9 km]<3> to the east of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 832 miles [1,339 km]<3> to the southeast of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 930 miles [1,496.7 km]<3> to the east of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago 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 351 miles [564.9 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Forest City that is located in Winnebago County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Potter County community of Forest City.
    • Utah
      • Utah County
      • This community is historic<1> 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.

  • Clear Lake
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Creamery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Creamery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creamery
    • Creamery is located in Cerro Gordo County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Creamery
    • From Forest City to Creamery
  • Crystal Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
    • Crystal Lake is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
  • Fertile
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fertile have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fertile
    • Fertile is located in Worth County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 356 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fertile <4>
  • Hayfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayfield have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
    • Hayfield is located in Hancock County
  • Hayfield Junction
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayfield Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield Junction
    • Hayfield Junction is located in Hancock County
  • Lake Mills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
    • Lake Mills is located in Winnebago County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,987 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Mills <4>
  • Scarville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scarville have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarville
    • Scarville is located in Winnebago County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scarville <4>
  • Somber
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Somber have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somber
    • Somber is located in Worth 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 city such as Forest City to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<3> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Forest City to Des Moines, with an average speed<7>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 913 miles [1,469.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,323 miles [10,175.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,075 miles [11,386.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,977 miles [8,009.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Forest City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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

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 Forest City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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>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- 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: 43.2635, Longitude: -93.6383    
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<6>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.
<7>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.
<8>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.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.542 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.212 degrees.
<11>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.276 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025