Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Norman, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Norman and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Norman
- 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 Norman:
- 43.493010, -93.499101
- 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 Norman
- 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 Winnebago County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Winnebago County
- Since Norman is near Freeborn County and also Worth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Freeborn County
- eBird sighting report for Worth 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 Norman ...
We found 23 communities that share the name Norman.
Within Iowa, the name Norman is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another 23 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 23 communities, 21 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Lamar County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Norman [Lamar County].
- Perry County
- This Norman is located in Perry County and lies 826 miles [1,329.3 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Norman that is located in Winnebago County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perry County community of Norman.
- Arkansas
- Calhoun County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Norman [Calhoun County].
- Montgomery County
- This Norman is located in Montgomery County and lies 623 miles [1,002.6 km]<2> to the south of the Norman that is located in Winnebago County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Norman.
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Elbert County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Norman [Elbert County].
- Wilkes County
- This Norman is located in Wilkes County and lies 876 miles [1,409.8 km]<2> to the southeast of the Norman that is located in Winnebago County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilkes County community of Norman.
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Manitoba
- This Norman lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Norman that is located in Winnebago County.
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Norman lies 621 miles [999.4 km]<2> to the east of the Norman that is located in Winnebago County.
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Norman ...
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.
- Glenville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenville
- Glenville is located in Freeborn County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenville <4>
- Gordonsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordonsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordonsville
- Gordonsville is located in Freeborn County (MN)
- Kiester
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kiester have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiester
- Kiester is located in Faribault County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kiester <4>
- Lake Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
- Lake Mills is located in Winnebago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,987 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Mills <4>
- Scarville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scarville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarville
- Scarville is located in Winnebago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scarville <4>
- Silver Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in Worth County
- Somber
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Twin Lakes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in Freeborn County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
How Far From Norman 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 Norman 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<5> community of Norman once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Norman and extending to:
- Forest City, which is the Seat of Winnebago County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Norman to Forest City, with an average speed<6> 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 five to six hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 131 miles [210.8 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 910 miles [1,464.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,307 miles [10,150.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,059 miles [11,360.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,962 miles [7,985.6 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> | 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 Norman 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. |
| <2> | 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- Norman) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Norman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4930, Longitude: -93.4991 In this case, the coordinates for Norman have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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 Norman, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Norman 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 318.448 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.135 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.146 degrees. |