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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Stiles, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Stiles 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 Stiles:
    • 40.635157, -92.351124
    • 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 Stiles
  • 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 Davis County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Davis County
    • Since Stiles is near Schuyler County and also Scotland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuyler County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Scotland 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 Stiles

Communities Also Named Stiles ...

We found nine communities that are also named Stiles.

Within Iowa, the name Stiles is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Nelson County
      • This Stiles is located in Nelson County and lies 420 miles [675.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Stiles that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nelson County community of Stiles.
    • Michigan
      • Newaygo County
      • 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 Michigan community of Stiles [Newaygo County].
      • Oakland 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 Michigan community of Stiles [Oakland County].
    • New York
      • Onondaga County
      • This Stiles is located in Onondaga County and lies 842 miles [1,355.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Stiles that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Stiles.
    • North Carolina
      • Macon County
      • This Stiles is located in Macon County and lies 607 miles [976.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the Stiles that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Macon County community of Stiles.
    • North Dakota
      • Richland County
      • This Stiles is located in Richland County and lies 443 miles [712.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Stiles that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Stiles.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lehigh County
      • This Stiles is located in Lehigh County and lies 881 miles [1,417.8 km]<1> to the east of the Stiles that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lehigh County community of Stiles.
    • Texas
      • Reagan 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 Texas community of Stiles [Reagan County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Oconto County
      • This Stiles is located in Oconto County and lies 364 miles [585.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Stiles that is located in Davis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconto County community of Stiles.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Stiles ...

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
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Business Corners is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Business Corners
  • Coatsville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Coatsville is located in Schuyler County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coatsville
  • Dover ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dover is located in Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
  • Drakesville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Dunnville ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Dunnville is located in Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnville
  • Energy
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Energy is located in Scotland County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Energy
  • Julesburg
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Mark
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Orleans
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Orleans is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
  • Paris
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant View ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant View is located in Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Unity
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • White Elm
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • White Elm is located in Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Elm

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

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

  • Bloomfield, which is the Seat of Davis County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Stiles to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>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 6 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 820 miles [1,319.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,414 miles [10,322.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,158 miles [11,519.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,047 miles [8,122.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Stiles) 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 Stiles 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>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 Stiles, 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 Stiles 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 Stiles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6352, Longitude: -92.3511       In this case, the coordinates for Stiles have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.584 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.764 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.233 degrees.