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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Springbrook, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Springbrook and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Springbrook:
    • 42.165691, -90.479499
    • 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 Springbrook
  • 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Springbrook is near Jo Daviess County and also Clinton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jo Daviess County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clinton 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 Springbrook

Communities Also Named Springbrook ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Springbrook.

Within Iowa, the name Springbrook is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of fourteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, ten are located in the United States and six are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Tuscaloosa County
      • This Springbrook is located in Tuscaloosa County and lies 641 miles [1,031.6 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscaloosa County community of Springbrook.
    • Alberta
      • This Springbrook lies 1,288 miles [2,072.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
    • Georgia
      • Cobb County
      • This Springbrook is located in Cobb County and lies 656 miles [1,055.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cobb County community of Springbrook.
    • Maryland
      • Montgomery County
      • This Springbrook is located in Montgomery County and lies 737 miles [1,186.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Springbrook.
    • North Dakota
      • Williams County
      • This Springbrook is located in Williams County and lies 757 miles [1,218.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Williams County community of Springbrook.
    • Ohio
      • Erie County
      • This Springbrook is located in Erie County and lies 393 miles [632.5 km]<1> to the east of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Springbrook.
    • Ontario
      • 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 Ontario community of Springbrook.
    • Oregon
      • Yamhill County
      • This Springbrook is located in Yamhill County and lies 1,622 miles [2,610.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yamhill County community of Springbrook.
    • Prince Edward Island
      • This Springbrook lies 1,358 miles [2,185.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
    • Quebec
      • This Springbrook lies 1,012 miles [1,628.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
    • South Carolina
      • Oconee County
      • This Springbrook is located in Oconee County and lies 657 miles [1,057.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconee County community of Springbrook.
    • Tennessee
      • Blount County
      • This Springbrook is located in Blount County and lies 560 miles [901.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blount County community of Springbrook.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Springbrook is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,117 miles [1,797.6 km]<1> to the west of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Springbrook.
    • Wisconsin
      • Washburn County
      • This Springbrook is located in Washburn County and lies 267 miles [429.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Springbrook that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washburn County community of Springbrook.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Springbrook ...

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.

  • Arnold
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Arnold is located in Carroll County (IL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
  • Blackhawk
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Blackhawk is located in Carroll County (IL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
  • Cottonville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cottonville is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonville
  • Green Island
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Green Island is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Island
  • Miles
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Otter Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Otter Creek is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter Creek
  • Petersville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Petersville is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
  • Pleasant Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Creek is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Creek
  • Rice
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Rice is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
  • Rockaway ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockaway is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockaway
  • Twin Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Twin Springs is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs

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

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

  • Maquoketa, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Springbrook to Maquoketa, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 166 miles [267.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 739 miles [1,189.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,271 miles [10,092.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,015 miles [11,289.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,905 miles [7,893.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Springbrook) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Springbrook 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Springbrook 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 Springbrook. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1657, Longitude: -90.4795       In this case, the coordinates for Springbrook have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.347 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.553 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.915 degrees.