RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Allamakee County >> Harpers Ferry >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Harpers Ferry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harpers Ferry 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 Harpers Ferry:
    • 43.202452, -91.150448
    • 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 Harpers Ferry
  • 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 Allamakee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allamakee County
    • Since Harpers Ferry is near Crawford County and also Clayton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Crawford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clayton 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 Harpers Ferry

Communities Also Named Harpers Ferry ...

We found six communities that are also named Harpers Ferry.

Within Iowa, the name Harpers Ferry is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Coffee County
      • This Harpers Ferry is located in Coffee County and lies 859 miles [1,382.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Harpers Ferry that is located in Allamakee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coffee County community of Harpers Ferry.
    • Georgia
      • Elbert County
      • This Harpers Ferry is located in Elbert County and lies 771 miles [1,240.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the Harpers Ferry that is located in Allamakee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elbert County community of Harpers Ferry.
      • Madison County
      • This Harpers Ferry is located in Madison County and lies 765 miles [1,231.1 km] to the southeast of the Harpers Ferry that is located in Allamakee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Harpers Ferry.
    • Kentucky
      • Henry 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 Kentucky community of Harpers Ferry [Henry County].
    • South Carolina
      • Abbeville County
      • This Harpers Ferry is located in Abbeville County and lies 771 miles [1,240.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the Harpers Ferry that is located in Allamakee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Abbeville County community of Harpers Ferry.
    • West Virginia
      • Jefferson County
      • This Harpers Ferry is located in Jefferson County and lies 744 miles [1,197.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Harpers Ferry that is located in Allamakee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Harpers Ferry.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Harpers Ferry ...

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.

  • Eldergrove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Eldergrove is located in Allamakee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldergrove
  • Ferryville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Ferryville is located in Crawford County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferryville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
  • Freeman
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Freeman is located in Crawford County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
  • Ion
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Maud
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Maud is located in Allamakee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maud
  • Reed
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Reed is located in Crawford County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed
  • Sixteen
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sixteen is located in Allamakee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixteen
  • Village Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Village Creek is located in Allamakee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Creek
  • Yellow River
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Yellow River is located in Allamakee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow River

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

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

  • Waukon, which is the Seat of Allamakee County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Harpers Ferry to Waukon, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 167 miles [268.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 791 miles [1,273 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,242 miles [10,045.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,990 miles [11,249.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,885 miles [7,861.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Harpers Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Harpers Ferry 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>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.
<4>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 Harpers Ferry 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 Harpers Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2025, Longitude: -91.1504    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.813 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.228 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.984 degrees.