Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Martensdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Martensdale and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Martensdale
- 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 Martensdale:
- 41.373589, -93.738626
- 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 Martensdale
- 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 Warren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Warren County
- Since Martensdale is near Madison County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Madison County
- eBird sighting report for Polk 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Martensdale ...
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.
- Buffalo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west) - Churchville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchville
- Churchville is located in Warren County
- Commerce
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Cool
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Old Peru
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Scotch Ridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotch Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotch Ridge
- Scotch Ridge is located in Warren County
- Summerset
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Summerset Junction ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerset Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset Junction
- Summerset Junction is located in Warren County
- Tileville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Valley Junction
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Junction
- Valley Junction is located in Polk County
- Wick
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
How Far From Martensdale 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 Martensdale to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Martensdale and extending to:
- Indianola, which is the Seat of Warren County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Martensdale to Indianola, with an average speed<4> 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 16 miles [25.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 896 miles [1,442 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,424 miles [10,338.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,173 miles [11,543.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,068 miles [8,156.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Martensdale. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Warren County: www.co.warren.ia.us/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Martensdale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Martensdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3736, Longitude: -93.7386 In this case, the coordinates for Martensdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Martensdale to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.561 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.985 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.768 degrees. |