RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Warren County >> Summerset Junction >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Summerset Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Summerset Junction 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 Summerset Junction:
    • 41.444436, -93.544382
    • 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 Summerset Junction
  • 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 Warren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Warren County
    • Since Summerset Junction is near Polk County and also Marion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion 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 Summerset Junction

Curious and Interesting Names Near Summerset Junction ...

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.

  • Beech
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Beech is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech
  • Carbondale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Carbondale is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
  • Churchville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Churchville is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchville
  • Ford
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Ford is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford
  • Greenbush
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Greenbush is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
  • Pleasant Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Rising Sun
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Rising Sun is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Sun
  • Sandyville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sandyville is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandyville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
  • Scotch Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Scotch Ridge is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotch Ridge
  • Summerset
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Summerset is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset

How Far From Summerset Junction 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 Summerset Junction 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<2> community of Summerset Junction once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Summerset Junction and extending to:

  • Indianola, which is the Seat of Warren County, lies just to the South.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from Summerset Junction to Des Moines, 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.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 887 miles [1,427.5 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 51 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> 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).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,162 miles [11,526.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,057 miles [8,138.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Summerset Junction, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Summerset Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Summerset Junction 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 Summerset Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4444, Longitude: -93.5444       In this case, the coordinates for Summerset Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.429 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.843 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.653 degrees.