Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Indianola, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Indianola and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Indianola
- 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 Indianola:
- 41.363354, -93.558304
- 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 Indianola
- 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 Warren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Warren County
- Since Indianola is near Polk County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- eBird sighting report for Madison 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 Indianola ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Indianola.
Within Iowa, the name Indianola is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Butler 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 Kansas community of Indianola [Butler County].
- Shawnee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Indianola [Shawnee County].
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Indianola ...
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.
- Beech
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Churchville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchville
- Churchville is located in Warren County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Churchville
- From Indianola to Churchville
- Cool
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cool. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool
- Cool is located in Warren County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Cool
- From Indianola to Cool
- Greenbush
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Liberty Center
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Center
- Liberty Center is located in Warren County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Liberty Center
- From Indianola to Liberty Center
- Sandyville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandyville
- Sandyville is located in Warren County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Sandyville
- From Indianola to Sandyville
- Scotch Ridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotch Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotch Ridge
- Scotch Ridge is located in Warren County
- Summerset
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Summerset Junction ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerset Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset Junction
- Summerset Junction is located in Warren County
- Wick
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
How Far From Indianola to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Indianola to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Indianola and extending to:
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Indianola to Des Moines, with an average speed<5> 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.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 887 miles [1,427.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,419 miles [10,330.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,167 miles [11,534.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,061 miles [8,144.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Indianola: www.cityofindianola.com/
The official website for Warren County: www.co.warren.ia.us/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Indianola) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Indianola. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3634, Longitude: -93.5583 |
| <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 Indianola 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> | 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Indianola to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.436 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.84 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.678 degrees. |