Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Harlan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harlan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Harlan
- 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 Harlan:
- 41.651336, -95.325357
- 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 Harlan
- 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- Since Harlan is near Pottawattamie County and also Audubon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pottawattamie County
- eBird sighting report for Audubon 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Harlan ...
We found ten communities that share the name Harlan.
Within Iowa, the name Harlan is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Neosho County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Harlan [Neosho County].
- Smith County
- This Harlan is located in Smith County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<2> to the southwest of the Harlan that is located in Shelby County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smith County community of Harlan.
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Harlan ...
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.
- Defiance
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Elk Horn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Horn have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Horn
- Elk Horn is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 601 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk Horn <5>
- Irwin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwin have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Irwin is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 308 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <5>
- Panama
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Panama have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panama
- Panama is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Panama <5>
- Poplar
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Red Line
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Walnut
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Yorkshire
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Harlan to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Harlan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Harlan and extending to:
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Harlan to Des Moines, with an average speed<6>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 5 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 980 miles [1,577.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 56 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,464 miles [10,402.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,215 miles [11,611.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,116 miles [8,233.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Harlan: www.cityofharlan.com/
The official website for Shelby County: www.shco.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Harlan 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Harlan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harlan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6513, Longitude: -95.3254 |
| <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 Harlan, 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 Harlan 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 319.675 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.303 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.527 degrees. |