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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for Iowa





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Solberg, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Solberg 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 Solberg:
    • 42.737738, -93.61651
    • 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 Solberg
  • 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

Curious and Interesting Names Near Solberg ...

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.

  • Drew
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drew have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drew
    • Drew is located in Wright County
  • Eagle Grove
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Florence
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Florence is located in Wright County
  • Goldfield
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Hardy
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Highview
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highview
    • Highview is located in Hamilton County
  • Iowa Falls
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Falls
    • Iowa Falls is located in Hardin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,940 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iowa Falls <2>
  • Iowa Falls Junction
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa Falls Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Falls Junction
    • Iowa Falls Junction is located in Hardin County
  • Olaf
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Olaf. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olaf
    • Olaf is located in Wright County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Olaf
    • From Solberg to Olaf
  • Popejoy
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Popejoy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popejoy
    • Popejoy is located in Franklin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
  • Thor
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Woolstock
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Solberg once stood, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Solberg and extending to:

  • Clarion, which is the Seat of Wright County, lies just to the West.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 78 miles [125.5 km]<5> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Solberg to Des Moines, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 904 miles [1,454.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,350 miles [10,219.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,101 miles [11,428 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,001 miles [8,048.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

The official website for Wright County: www.wrightcounty.org/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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 Solberg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Solberg) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Solberg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7377, Longitude: -93.6165    
<6>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.
<7>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 Solberg to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.515 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.113 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.391 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025