RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Black Hawk County >> Gilbertville >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gilbertville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gilbertville 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 Gilbertville:
    • 42.419023, -92.214165
    • 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 Gilbertville
  • 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 Black Hawk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Black Hawk County
    • Since Gilbertville is near Buchanan County and also Tama County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tama 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 Gilbertville

Communities Also Named Gilbertville ...

We found three communities that are also named Gilbertville.

Within Iowa, the name Gilbertville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Oxford County
      • This Gilbertville is located in Oxford County and lies 1,104 miles [1,776.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Gilbertville that is located in Black Hawk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oxford County community of Gilbertville.
    • Massachusetts
      • Worcester County
      • This Gilbertville is located in Worcester County and lies 1,018 miles [1,638.3 km]<1> to the east of the Gilbertville that is located in Black Hawk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Worcester County community of Gilbertville.
    • Ontario
      • This Gilbertville lies 596 miles [959.2 km]<1> to the east of the Gilbertville that is located in Black Hawk County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gilbertville ...

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
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Rock is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
  • Castle Hill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Castle Hill is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Hill
  • Edwards ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Edwards is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
  • Hilltop
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hilltop is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Louise
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Louise is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louise
  • Orange
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Orange is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
  • Raymond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Raymond is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 788 people
  • Shady Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Shady Grove is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Vista
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Vista is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
  • Wise
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Wise is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise

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

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

  • Waterloo, which is the Seat of Black Hawk County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 91 miles [146.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Gilbertville to Des Moines, with an average speed<2>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 6 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 830 miles [1,335.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,318 miles [10,167.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,067 miles [11,373.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,961 miles [7,984 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Gilbertville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Gilbertville 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 Gilbertville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4190, Longitude: -92.2142       In this case, the coordinates for Gilbertville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.537 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.949 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.738 degrees.