RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Davis County >> Mark >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mark, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mark 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 Mark:
    • 40.660367, -92.509194
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Mark
  • 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 Davis County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Davis County
    • Since Mark is near Appanoose County and also Schuyler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Appanoose County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuyler 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Mark

Communities Also Named Mark ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Mark.

Within Iowa, the name Mark is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Idaho
      • Madison County
      • This Mark is located in Madison County and lies 1,008 miles [1,622.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Mark that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Mark.
    • Illinois
      • Putnam County
      • This Mark is located in Putnam County and lies 174 miles [280 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Mark that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Mark.
    • Kansas
      • Pottawatomie County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Pottawatomie County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pottawatomie County community of Mark.
    • Kentucky
      • Pulaski County
      • This Mark is located in Pulaski County and lies 492 miles [791.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Mark that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Mark.
    • Louisiana
      • West Baton Rouge Parish
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Mark [West Baton Rouge Parish].
    • Michigan
      • Clare County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Mark [Clare County].
      • Wayne 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 Mark [Wayne County].
    • Missouri
      • Marion County
      • This Mark is located in Marion County and lies 76 miles [122.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Mark that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Mark.
    • Ohio
      • Logan County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Logan County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Mark.
    • Oklahoma
      • Mayes County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Mayes County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mayes County community of Mark.
    • West Virginia
      • Braxton County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Mark [Braxton County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mark ...

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.

  • Blackhawk
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Blackhawk is located in Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
  • Chapel
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Chapel is located in Putnam County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel
  • Coal City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Coal City is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
  • Coatsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Coatsville is located in Schuyler County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coatsville
  • Dean
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Dean is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
  • Drakesville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Dunnville ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dunnville is located in Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnville
  • Julesburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Orleans
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Orleans is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
  • Paris
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant View ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant View is located in Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Unionville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Bloomfield, which is the Seat of Davis County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Mark to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 828 miles [1,332.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,418 miles [10,328.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,163 miles [11,527.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,053 miles [8,132 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Mark) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Mark, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Mark 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.
<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 Mark to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mark. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6604, Longitude: -92.5092       In this case, the coordinates for Mark have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.693 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.892 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.306 degrees.