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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Medora, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Medora 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 Medora:
    • 41.186940, -93.602716
    • 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 Medora
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Warren County
    • Since Medora is near Clarke County and also Lucas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lucas 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 Medora

Communities Also Named Medora ...

We found nine communities that are also named Medora.

Within Iowa, the name Medora is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Macoupin County
      • This Medora is located in Macoupin County and lies 229 miles [368.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Medora that is located in Warren County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Macoupin County community of Medora.
    • Indiana
      • Jackson County
      • This Medora is located in Jackson County and lies 425 miles [684 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Medora that is located in Warren County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Medora.
    • Kansas
      • Reno County
      • This Medora is located in Reno County and lies 307 miles [494.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Medora that is located in Warren County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Reno County community of Medora.
    • Kentucky
      • Jefferson County
      • This Medora is located in Jefferson County and lies 464 miles [746.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Medora that is located in Warren County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Medora.
    • Manitoba
      • This Medora lies 654 miles [1,052.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Medora that is located in Warren County.
    • Missouri
      • Osage 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 Missouri community of Medora [Osage County].
    • North Carolina
      • Edgecombe 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 North Carolina community of Medora [Edgecombe County].
    • North Dakota
      • Billings County
      • This Medora is located in Billings County and lies 630 miles [1,013.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Medora that is located in Warren County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Billings County community of Medora.
    • Ontario
      • This Medora lies 750 miles [1,207 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Medora that is located in Warren County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Medora ...

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.

  • Churchville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Churchville is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchville
  • Cool
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cool is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool
  • Groveland ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Groveland is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
  • Jay
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jay is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jay
  • Last Chance
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Last Chance is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
  • Liberty
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Liberty is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
  • Liberty Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Liberty Center is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Center
  • Lucas
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lucas is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
  • Sandyville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sandyville is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandyville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
  • Summerset
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Summerset is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset
  • Wick
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Wick is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wick

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

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

  • Indianola, which is the Seat of Warren County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Medora to Indianola, with an average speed<3> 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 28 miles [45.1 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 888 miles [1,429.1 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,429 miles [10,346.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,177 miles [11,550.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,071 miles [8,161 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Medora) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Medora 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>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.
<4>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 Medora 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 Medora. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1869, Longitude: -93.6027       In this case, the coordinates for Medora have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.46 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.845 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.74 degrees.