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










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Iowa


The Commemorative Quarter for Iowa







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Palo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Palo 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 Palo:
    • 42.062715, -91.798218
    • 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 Palo
  • 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 Palo ...

We found five communities that share the name Palo.

Within Iowa, the name Palo is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Ohio 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 Kentucky community of Palo [Ohio County].
    • Michigan
      • Ionia County
      • This Palo is located in Ionia County and lies 353 miles [568.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Palo that is located in Linn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ionia County community of Palo.
    • Minnesota
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Palo is located in Saint Louis County and lies 370 miles [595.5 km]<2> to the north of the Palo that is located in Linn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Palo.
    • Nebraska
      • Palo #
      • This community is historic<1> and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Palo.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Palo lies 1,038 miles [1,670.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Palo that is located in Linn County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Palo ...

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.

  • Alice
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alice have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
    • Alice is located in Linn County
  • Cedar Rapids
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Center Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
    • Center Point is located in Linn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,560 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Point <4>
  • Eden
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
    • Eden is located in Benton County
  • Grand View Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand View Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Village
    • Grand View Village is located in Linn County
  • Hiawatha
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hiawatha have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiawatha
    • Hiawatha is located in Linn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,466 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hiawatha <4>
  • Lincolnway Village
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincolnway Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnway Village
    • Lincolnway Village is located in Linn County
  • Marion
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Robins
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robins have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robins
    • Robins is located in Linn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,570 people
  • Toddville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toddville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toddville
    • Toddville is located in Linn County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Toddville <4>

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

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

  • Cedar Rapids, which is the Seat of Linn County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 98 miles [157.7 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Palo to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 804 miles [1,293.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,322 miles [10,174.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,069 miles [11,376.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,961 miles [7,984 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Palo. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Linn County: www.co.linn.ia.us/

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Palo 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Palo) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Palo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0627, Longitude: -91.7982       In this case, the coordinates for Palo 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>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.
<6>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 Palo to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.245 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.567 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.613 degrees.









 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024