Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Houghton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Houghton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Houghton
- 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 Houghton:
- 40.784676, -91.605583
- 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 Houghton
- 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 Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lee County
- Since Houghton is near Henry County and also Van Buren County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Henry County
- eBird sighting report for Van Buren 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 Houghton ...
We found seven communities that share the name Houghton.
Within Iowa, the name Houghton is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Maine
- Michigan
- New York
- South Dakota
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Houghton ...
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 Mound
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Mound
- Big Mound is located in Lee County
- Bonaparte
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bonaparte have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonaparte
- Bonaparte is located in Van Buren County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 405 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bonaparte <5>
- Franklin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
- Harrisburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrisburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- Harrisburg is located in Van Buren County
- Mount Pleasant
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Henry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,508 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Pleasant <5>
- Palestine ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Pierceville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierceville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
- Pierceville is located in Van Buren County
- Pilot Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Grove
- Pilot Grove is located in Lee County
- Plymouth
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Houghton 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 Houghton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Houghton and extending to:
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 118 miles [189.9 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Houghton to Des Moines, with an average speed<6>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 782 miles [1,258.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,380 miles [10,267.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,123 miles [11,463.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,011 miles [8,064.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Houghton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Lee County: www.leecounty.org/
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 Houghton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 drawn from Point A (ie- Houghton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Houghton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7847, Longitude: -91.6056 |
| <3> | 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 Houghton 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. |
| <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 Houghton 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 317.083 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.209 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.826 degrees. |