Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Portsmouth, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portsmouth and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Portsmouth
- 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 Portsmouth:
- 41.650576, -95.518777
- 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 Portsmouth
- 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- Since Portsmouth is near Harrison County and also Pottawattamie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Harrison County
- eBird sighting report for Pottawattamie 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 Portsmouth ...
We found nine communities that share the name Portsmouth.
Within Iowa, the name Portsmouth is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Breathitt County
- This Portsmouth is located in Breathitt County and lies 708 miles [1,139.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Shelby County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Breathitt County community of Portsmouth.
- Michigan
- Bay 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 Portsmouth [Bay County].
- New Hampshire
- Rockingham County
- This Portsmouth is located in Rockingham County and lies 1,261 miles [2,029.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Shelby County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of Portsmouth.
- North Carolina
- Carteret County
- This Portsmouth is located in Carteret County and lies 1,143 miles [1,839.5 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Shelby County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carteret County community of Portsmouth.
- Ohio
- Scioto County
- This Portsmouth is located in Scioto County and lies 690 miles [1,110.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Shelby County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scioto County community of Portsmouth.
- Ontario
- This Portsmouth lies 974 miles [1,567.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Shelby County.
- Rhode Island
- Newport County
- This Portsmouth is located in Newport County and lies 1,248 miles [2,008.5 km]<1> to the east of the Portsmouth that is located in Shelby County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newport County community of Portsmouth.
- Virginia
- Norfolk City
- 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 Virginia community of Portsmouth [Norfolk City].
- Portsmouth City
- This Portsmouth is located in Portsmouth City and lies 1,074 miles [1,728.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Shelby County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portsmouth City community of Portsmouth.
- Kentucky
Curious and Interesting Names Near Portsmouth ...
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.
- Allen
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest) - Beebeetown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beebeetown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebeetown
- Beebeetown is located in Harrison County
- Crisp
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Defiance
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast) - Euclid
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest) - Hard Scratch
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hard Scratch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hard Scratch
- Hard Scratch is located in Harrison County
- Irwin
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Irwin is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 308 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <4>
- Magnolia
(18 miles [29 km] to the west) - Panama
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Panama have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panama
- Panama is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Panama <4>
- Pigeon
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest) - Red Line
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east) - Union Burg ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Burg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Burg
- Union Burg is located in Harrison County
- Walnut
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast) - Yorkshire
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
How Far From Portsmouth 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 city such as Portsmouth to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Portsmouth and extending to:
- Harlan, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Portsmouth to Harlan, with an average speed<5> 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 98 miles [157.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 990 miles [1,593.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 57 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,470 miles [10,412.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,222 miles [11,622.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,123 miles [8,244.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Portsmouth. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Shelby County: www.shco.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Portsmouth) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portsmouth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6506, Longitude: -95.5188 |
| <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 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 Portsmouth 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> | 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 Portsmouth 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 319.811 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.459 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.628 degrees. |