Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ivy, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ivy and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ivy
- 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 Ivy:
- 41.600545, -93.417156
- 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 Ivy
- 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Since Ivy is near Jasper County and also Warren County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jasper County
- eBird sighting report for Warren 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 Ivy ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Ivy.
Within Iowa, the name Ivy is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Ontario
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Anderson 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 Tennessee community of Ivy [Anderson County].
- Monroe County
- This Ivy is located in Monroe County and lies 653 miles [1,050.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the Ivy that is located in Polk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Ivy.
- Texas
- Angelina 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 Ivy [Angelina County].
- Caldwell 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 Texas community of Ivy [Caldwell County].
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ivy ...
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.
- Carbondale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbondale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
- Carbondale is located in Polk County
- Enterprise
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enterprise have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Enterprise is located in Polk County
- Ford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Pleasant Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,025 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant Hill <4>
- Prairie City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- 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
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- 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
- Rising Sun
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rising Sun have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Sun
- Rising Sun is located in Polk County
- Scotch Ridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- 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
- Swan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan
- Swan is located in Marion County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
How Far From Ivy 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 community such as Ivy to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ivy and extending to:
- Des Moines, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Ivy to Des Moines, 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 10 miles [16.1 km] to the west (W). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 881 miles [1,417.8 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 50 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,402 miles [10,303 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,150 miles [11,506.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,045 miles [8,119.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ivy. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ivy) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ivy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6005, Longitude: -93.4172 In this case, the coordinates for Ivy have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Ivy 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 Ivy 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 318.346 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.768 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.552 degrees. |