Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Mendota, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mendota and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Mendota
- 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 Mendota:
- 40.595294, -92.924646
- 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 Mendota
- 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 Appanoose County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Appanoose County
- Since Mendota is near Putnam County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Putnam County
- eBird sighting report for Wayne 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 Mendota ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Mendota.
Within Iowa, the name Mendota is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Decatur 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 Kansas community of Mendota [Decatur County].
- Ellis 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 Kansas community of Mendota [Ellis County].
- Neosho 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 Kansas community of Mendota [Neosho County].
- Smith 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 Kansas community of Mendota [Smith County].
- Trego 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 Kansas community of Mendota [Trego County].
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mendota ...
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.
- Blackbird ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Centerville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Appanoose County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,414 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Centerville <5>
- Chapel
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Coal City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Howland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Jerome
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Martinstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martinstown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinstown
- Martinstown is located in Appanoose County
- Pearl City
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearl City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
- Pearl City is located in Putnam County (MO)
- Sunshine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
- Sunshine is located in Appanoose County
- Thirty
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Unionville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Putnam County (MO)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,733 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Unionville <5>
How Far From Mendota to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Mendota to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Mendota once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Mendota and extending to:
- Centerville, which is the Seat of Appanoose County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Mendota to Centerville, with an average speed<6> 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 77 miles [123.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 850 miles [1,367.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,436 miles [10,357.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,182 miles [11,558.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,072 miles [8,162.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
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- Mendota) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mendota. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5953, Longitude: -92.9246 In this case, the coordinates for Mendota have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Mendota 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> | 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 Mendota, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Mendota 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 317.973 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.207 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.529 degrees. |