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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Saxon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Saxon 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 Saxon:
    • 40.753061, -93.457160
    • 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 Saxon
  • 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 Wayne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne County
    • Since Saxon is near Decatur County and also Lucas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Decatur County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lucas 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 Saxon

Communities Also Named Saxon ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Saxon.

Within Iowa, the name Saxon is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Yolo County
      • This Saxon is located in Yolo County and lies 1,501 miles [2,415.6 km]<1> to the west of the Saxon that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yolo County community of Saxon.
    • Georgia
      • Oglethorpe County
      • This Saxon is located in Oglethorpe County and lies 743 miles [1,195.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Saxon that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oglethorpe County community of Saxon.
    • Illinois
      • Henry County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Saxon [Henry County].
      • Livingston County
      • This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Saxon [Livingston County].
    • Michigan
      • Kent County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Saxon [Kent County].
    • Mississippi
      • Marion County
      • This Saxon is located in Marion County and lies 694 miles [1,116.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Saxon that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Saxon.
    • North Carolina
      • Stokes County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Saxon [Stokes County].
    • Ohio
      • Meigs County
      • This Saxon is located in Meigs County and lies 627 miles [1,009.1 km]<1> to the east of the Saxon that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meigs County community of Saxon.
    • South Carolina
      • Spartanburg County
      • This Saxon is located in Spartanburg County and lies 742 miles [1,194.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Saxon that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of Saxon.
    • Washington
      • Whatcom County
      • This Saxon is located in Whatcom County and lies 1,501 miles [2,415.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Saxon that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Whatcom County community of Saxon.
    • West Virginia
      • Raleigh County
      • This Saxon is located in Raleigh County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Saxon that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Raleigh County community of Saxon.
    • Wisconsin
      • Ashland County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Saxon [Ashland County].
      • Iron County
      • This Saxon is located in Iron County and lies 424 miles [682.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Saxon that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iron County community of Saxon.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Saxon ...

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.

  • Big Spring ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Spring is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
  • Derby
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Derby is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
  • Garden Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
  • Harvard
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Harvard is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard
  • High Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • High Point is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Hodge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hodge is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge
  • Le Roy
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Le Roy is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Roy
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14 people
  • Lineville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Lineville is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lineville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people

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

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

  • Corydon, which is the Seat of Wayne County, lies just to the East.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 58 miles [93.3 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Saxon to Des Moines, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 878 miles [1,413 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,447 miles [10,375.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,193 miles [11,576 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,085 miles [8,183.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Saxon) 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 Saxon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Saxon 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.
<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 Saxon 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 Saxon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7531, Longitude: -93.4572       In this case, the coordinates for Saxon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.344 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.654 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.762 degrees.