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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Platteville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Platteville and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Platteville:
    • 40.639989, -94.556630
    • 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 Platteville
  • 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 Taylor County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
    • Since Platteville is near Ringgold County and also Worth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ringgold County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Platteville

Communities Also Named Platteville ...

We found three communities that are also named Platteville.

Within Iowa, the name Platteville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Weld County
      • This Platteville is located in Weld County and lies 540 miles [869 km]<1> to the west of the Platteville that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weld County community of Platteville.
    • Nebraska
      • Saunders County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Saunders County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saunders County community of Platteville.
    • Wisconsin
      • Grant County
      • This Platteville is located in Grant County and lies 255 miles [410.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Platteville that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Platteville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Platteville ...

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.

  • Bushville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Bushville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushville
  • Diagonal
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Gravity
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Gravity is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravity
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
  • Marshall ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Marshall is located in Ringgold County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Merle Junction
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Merle Junction is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merle Junction
  • Prohibition City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Prohibition City is located in Worth County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prohibition City
  • Ravenwood
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Ravenwood is located in Nodaway County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 394 people
  • Worth
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Worth is located in Worth County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people

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

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

  • Bedford, which is the Seat of Taylor County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Platteville to Bedford, with an average speed<4> 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 82 miles [132 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 936 miles [1,506.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,491 miles [10,446.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,239 miles [11,650 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,133 miles [8,260.8 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 from Point A (ie- Platteville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Platteville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Platteville 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 Platteville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6400, Longitude: -94.5566       In this case, the coordinates for Platteville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.096 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.506 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.343 degrees.