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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Metz, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Metz 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 Metz:
    • 41.666276, -93.137544
    • 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 Metz
  • 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 Jasper County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jasper County
    • Since Metz is near Polk County and also Marion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion 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 Metz

Communities Also Named Metz ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Metz.

Within Iowa, the name Metz is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Monterey County
      • This Metz is located in Monterey County and lies 1,542 miles [2,481.6 km]<1> to the west of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monterey County community of Metz.
    • Indiana
      • Steuben County
      • This Metz is located in Steuben County and lies 428 miles [688.8 km]<1> to the east of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Steuben County community of Metz.
    • Kansas
      • Chautauqua 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 Metz [Chautauqua County].
    • Michigan
      • Benzie 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 Michigan community of Metz [Benzie County].
      • Presque Isle County
      • This Metz is located in Presque Isle County and lies 530 miles [853 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Presque Isle County community of Metz.
    • Missouri
      • Vernon County
      • This Metz is located in Vernon County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vernon County community of Metz.
    • Ohio
      • Summit County
      • This Metz is located in Summit County and lies 605 miles [973.7 km]<1> to the east of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Summit County community of Metz.
    • Ontario
      • This Metz lies 659 miles [1,060.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
    • Texas
      • Ector County
      • This Metz is located in Ector County and lies 865 miles [1,392.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ector County community of Metz.
    • West Virginia
      • Marion County
      • This Metz is located in Marion County and lies 683 miles [1,099.2 km]<1> to the east of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Metz.
    • Wisconsin
      • Waushara County
      • This Metz is located in Waushara County and lies 277 miles [445.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Metz that is located in Jasper County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Waushara County community of Metz.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Metz ...

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.

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

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

  • Newton, which is the Seat of Jasper County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Metz to Des Moines, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 868 miles [1,396.9 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 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,389 miles [10,282.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,137 miles [11,485.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,031 miles [8,096.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Metz) 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 Metz 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Metz 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 Metz. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6663, Longitude: -93.1375    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.155 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.558 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.394 degrees.