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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Newbern, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Newbern 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 Newbern:
    • 41.160750, -93.310882
    • 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 Newbern
  • 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Since Newbern is near Warren County and also Lucas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Warren 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 Newbern

Communities Also Named Newbern ...

We found nine communities that are also named Newbern.

Within Iowa, the name Newbern is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Hale County
      • This Newbern is located in Hale County and lies 671 miles [1,079.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Newbern that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hale County community of Newbern.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough 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 Florida community of Newbern [Hillsborough County].
    • Illinois
      • Jersey County
      • This Newbern is located in Jersey County and lies 216 miles [347.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the Newbern that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jersey County community of Newbern.
    • Indiana
      • Bartholomew County
      • This Newbern is located in Bartholomew County and lies 420 miles [675.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Newbern that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bartholomew County community of Newbern.
    • Kansas
      • Dickinson 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 Newbern [Dickinson County].
    • Kentucky
      • Livingston County
      • This Newbern is located in Livingston County and lies 388 miles [624.4 km]<1> to the southeast of the Newbern that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Newbern.
    • Ohio
      • Shelby County
      • This Newbern is located in Shelby County and lies 478 miles [769.3 km]<1> to the east of the Newbern that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Newbern.
    • Tennessee
      • Dyer County
      • This Newbern is located in Dyer County and lies 410 miles [659.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Newbern that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dyer County community of Newbern.
    • Virginia
      • Pulaski County
      • This Newbern is located in Pulaski County and lies 731 miles [1,176.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Newbern that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Newbern.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Newbern ...

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 Newbern 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 community such as Newbern to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Knoxville, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Newbern to Knoxville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 33 miles [53.1 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 873 miles [1,405 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,421 miles [10,333.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,168 miles [11,535.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,061 miles [8,144.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Newbern) 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 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 Newbern 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 Newbern 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 Newbern. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1608, Longitude: -93.3109    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.258 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.609 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.598 degrees.