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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Kelley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Kelley and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Kelley:
    • 41.950392, -93.665327
    • 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 Kelley
  • 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 Kelley ...

We found seven communities that share the name Kelley.

Within Iowa, the name Kelley is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Avoyelles Parish
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Kelley [Avoyelles Parish].
    • Michigan
      • Antrim 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 Michigan community of Kelley [Antrim County].
      • Kalkaska 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 Michigan community of Kelley [Kalkaska County].
    • Montana
      • Petroleum County
      • This Kelley is located in Petroleum County and lies 788 miles [1,268.2 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Kelley that is located in Story County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Petroleum County community of Kelley.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny 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 Pennsylvania community of Kelley [Allegheny County].
      • Armstrong 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 Pennsylvania community of Kelley [Armstrong County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Marathon 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 Wisconsin community of Kelley [Marathon County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Kelley ...

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.

  • Elkhart
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Gilbert
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • High Bridge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for High Bridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bridge
    • High Bridge is located in Dallas County
  • Iowa Center
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Center
    • Iowa Center is located in Story County
  • Jordan
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
    • Jordan is located in Boone County
  • Luther
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Luther have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
    • Luther is located in Boone County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
  • Madrid
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Maxwell
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Nevada
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Nevada, which is the Seat of Story County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Kelley to Nevada, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 24 miles [38.6 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 897 miles [1,443.6 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<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,392 miles [10,286.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,142 miles [11,493.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,038 miles [8,107.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Kelley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Story County: www.storycounty.com/

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 Kelley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Kelley 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Kelley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kelley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9504, Longitude: -93.6653    
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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.
<7>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.
<8>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 Kelley to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.529 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.024 degrees.
<11>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.60 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024