Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Melbourne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melbourne and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Melbourne
- 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 Melbourne:
- 41.941260, -93.101760
- 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 Melbourne
- 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 Marshall County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- Since Melbourne is near Jasper County and also Story County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jasper County
- eBird sighting report for Story 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
Communities Also Named Melbourne ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Melbourne.
Within Iowa, the name Melbourne is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eight are located in the United States and four are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Manitoba
- This Melbourne lies 620 miles [997.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Melbourne that is located in Marshall County.
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nova Scotia
- This Melbourne lies 1,368 miles [2,201.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Melbourne that is located in Marshall County.
- Ontario
- This Melbourne lies 591 miles [951.1 km]<1> to the east of the Melbourne that is located in Marshall County.
- Quebec
- Tennessee
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Melbourne ...
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.
- Clyde
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Edenville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Green Castle
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Castle
- Green Castle is located in Jasper County
- Iowa Center
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Center
- Iowa Center is located in Story County
- Ira
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ira
- Ira is located in Jasper County
- Lambs Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambs Grove
- Lambs Grove is located in Jasper County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Malta
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Marshalltown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshalltown
- Marshalltown is located in Marshall County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,736 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marshalltown <5>
- Maxwell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
- Maxwell is located in Story County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 908 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maxwell <5>
- Minerva
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Mingo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo
- Mingo is located in Jasper County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 309 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mingo <5>
- Quarry
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east) - Rushville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Melbourne 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 Melbourne to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Melbourne and extending to:
- Marshalltown, which is the Seat of Marshall County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Melbourne to Marshalltown, with an average speed<6> 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 35 miles [56.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 868 miles [1,396.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,373 miles [10,256.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,122 miles [11,461.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,017 miles [8,074.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Melbourne. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Marshall County: www.co.marshall.ia.us/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Melbourne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Melbourne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9413, Longitude: -93.1018 |
| <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 Melbourne, 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Melbourne 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> | 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Melbourne to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.138 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.575 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.312 degrees. |