Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ira, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ira and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ira
- 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 Ira:
- 41.777654, -93.205813
- 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 Ira
- 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 Jasper County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jasper County
- Since Ira is near Polk County and also Story County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- eBird sighting report for Story 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 Ira ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Ira.
Within Iowa, the name Ira is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Red River 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 Texas community of Ira [Red River County].
- Scurry County
- This Ira is located in Scurry County and lies 765 miles [1,231.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Ira that is located in Jasper County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scurry County community of Ira.
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ira ...
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.
- Clyde
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Edenville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Green Castle
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Castle
- Green Castle is located in Jasper County
- Lambs Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambs Grove
- Lambs Grove is located in Jasper County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Maxwell
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
- Maxwell is located in Story County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 908 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maxwell <4>
- Melbourne
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melbourne
- Melbourne is located in Marshall County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 796 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melbourne <4>
- Mingo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo
- Mingo is located in Jasper County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 309 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mingo <4>
- Prairie City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie City
- Prairie City is located in Jasper County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,721 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie City <4>
- Prairiebell
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairiebell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairiebell
- Prairiebell is located in Jasper County
- Rushville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
How Far From Ira 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 community such as Ira to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ira and extending to:
- Newton, which is the Seat of Jasper County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ira to Newton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 24 miles [38.6 km] to the west southwest (WSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 872 miles [1,403.3 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 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,385 miles [10,275.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,134 miles [11,481.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,029 miles [8,093.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ira. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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- Ira) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ira. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7777, Longitude: -93.2058 |
| <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 Ira 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Ira 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 318.206 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.63 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.403 degrees. |