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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for Iowa





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Lourdes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lourdes 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 Lourdes:
    • 43.262192, -92.298784
    • 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 Lourdes
  • 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 Lourdes ...

We found four communities that share the name Lourdes.

Within Iowa, the name Lourdes is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, one is located in the United States and the other three communities are located in  Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Mexico
      • San Miguel County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Lourdes [San Miguel County].
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This Lourdes lies 1,628 miles [2,620 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Lourdes that is located in Howard County.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Lourdes lies 1,462 miles [2,352.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Lourdes that is located in Howard County.
    • Quebec
      • This Lourdes lies 1,022 miles [1,644.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Lourdes that is located in Howard County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lourdes ...

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.

  • Chester
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Chickasaw
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickasaw
    • Chickasaw is located in Chickasaw County
  • Florenceville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florenceville
    • Florenceville is located in Howard County
  • Forest City ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
    • Forest City is located in Howard County
  • Lime Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Little Turkey
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Turkey have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Turkey
    • Little Turkey is located in Chickasaw County
  • Maple Leaf
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Leaf have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Leaf
    • Maple Leaf is located in Howard County
  • Riceville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riceville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceville
    • Riceville is located in Howard County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 762 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riceville <3>
  • Spillville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Cresco, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Lourdes to Cresco, with an average speed<5> 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 133 miles [214 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 848 miles [1,364.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,278 miles [10,103.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,028 miles [11,310.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,927 miles [7,929.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

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

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Lourdes 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.
<2>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- Lourdes) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lourdes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2622, Longitude: -92.2988       In this case, the coordinates for Lourdes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 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 Lourdes 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 317.608 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.144 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.57 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025