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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rodney, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rodney 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 Rodney:
    • 42.204435, -95.950505
    • 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 Rodney
  • 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 Monona County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monona County
    • Since Rodney is near Woodbury County and also Crawford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Woodbury County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Crawford 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 Rodney

Communities Also Named Rodney ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Rodney.

Within Iowa, the name Rodney is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, eleven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Coffee 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 Rodney [Coffee County].
    • Arkansas
      • Baxter County
      • This Rodney is located in Baxter County and lies 458 miles [737.1 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Rodney that is located in Monona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baxter County community of Rodney.
    • Delaware
      • Sussex 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 Delaware community of Rodney [Sussex County].
    • Michigan
      • Mecosta County
      • This Rodney is located in Mecosta County and lies 546 miles [878.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Rodney that is located in Monona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mecosta County community of Rodney.
    • Mississippi
      • Jefferson County
      • This Rodney is located in Jefferson County and lies 760 miles [1,223.1 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Rodney that is located in Monona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Rodney.
    • Missouri
      • Linn 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 Missouri community of Rodney [Linn County].
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Rodney lies 1,594 miles [2,565.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Rodney that is located in Monona County.
    • Ohio
      • Gallia County
      • This Rodney is located in Gallia County and lies 751 miles [1,208.6 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Rodney that is located in Monona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gallia County community of Rodney.
    • Ontario
      • This Rodney lies 727 miles [1,170 km]<2> to the east of the Rodney that is located in Monona County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Westmoreland County
      • This Rodney is located in Westmoreland County and lies 869 miles [1,398.5 km]<2> to the east of the Rodney that is located in Monona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Rodney.
    • Texas
      • Navarro County
      • This Rodney is located in Navarro County and lies 717 miles [1,153.9 km]<2> to the south of the Rodney that is located in Monona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Navarro County community of Rodney.
    • Virginia
      • Bedford 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 Virginia community of Rodney [Bedford County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Waushara County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Rodney [Waushara County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rodney ...

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

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

  • Onawa, which is the Seat of Monona County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rodney to Onawa, with an average speed<5> 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 127 miles [204.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,015 miles [1,633.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,455 miles [10,388.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,209 miles [11,601.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,114 miles [8,230.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Rodney 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 '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- Rodney) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Rodney, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Rodney 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 Rodney. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2044, Longitude: -95.9505    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.137 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.906 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.739 degrees.