Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Selma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Selma and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Selma
- 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 Selma:
- 40.872393, -92.152764
- 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 Selma
- 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 Van Buren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
- Since Selma is near Davis County and also Wapello County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Davis County
- eBird sighting report for Wapello 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 Selma ...
We found 30 communities that share the name Selma.
Within Iowa, the name Selma is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another 30 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 30 communities, 29 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Illinois
- McLean County
- Although located in McLean County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLean County community of Selma.
- Wabash 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 Selma [Wabash County].
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Anderson County
- This Selma is located in Anderson County and lies 246 miles [395.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Selma that is located in Van Buren County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of Selma.
- Geary 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 Kansas community of Selma [Geary County].
- Osborne County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Selma [Osborne County].
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Marquette County
- This Selma is located in Marquette County and lies 453 miles [729 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Selma that is located in Van Buren County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marquette County community of Selma.
- Wexford 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 Selma [Wexford County].
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Jefferson County
- This Selma is located in Jefferson County and lies 211 miles [339.6 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Selma that is located in Van Buren County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Selma.
- Saint Louis County
- Although located in Saint Louis County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Selma.
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Nova Scotia
- This Selma lies 1,466 miles [2,359.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Selma that is located in Van Buren County.
- Ohio
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Bexar County
- This Selma is located in Bexar County and lies 852 miles [1,371.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Selma that is located in Van Buren County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of Selma.
- Montague County
- This Selma is located in Montague County and lies 599 miles [964 km] to the southwest of the Selma that is located in Van Buren County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montague County community of Selma.
- Utah
- Virginia
- Alleghany County
- This Selma is located in Alleghany County and lies 689 miles [1,108.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Selma that is located in Van Buren County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alleghany County community of Selma.
- Staunton City
- This Selma is located in Staunton City and lies 720 miles [1,158.7 km] to the east of the Selma that is located in Van Buren County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Staunton City community of Selma.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Selma ...
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.
- Business Corners ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Business Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Business Corners
- Business Corners is located in Van Buren County
- Carbon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west) - Cliffland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffland
- Cliffland is located in Wapello County
- Dover ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Dunnville ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Libertyville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
- Libertyville is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
- Parksville ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parksville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksville
- Parksville is located in Van Buren County
- Pleasant View ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant View have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Pleasant View is located in Davis County
- White Elm
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Selma to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Selma to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Selma and extending to:
- Keosauqua, which is the Seat of Van Buren County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Selma to Keosauqua, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 90 miles [144.8 km] to the northwest (NW). 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 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 811 miles [1,305.2 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 6,395 miles [10,291.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,140 miles [11,490.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,029 miles [8,093.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Selma. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Selma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Selma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8724, Longitude: -92.1528 |
| <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 Selma, 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 Selma 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> | 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. |
| <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 Selma 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 317.457 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.65 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.079 degrees. |