Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Swan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Swan
- 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 Swan:
- 41.465989, -93.312723
- 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 Swan
- 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marion County
- Since Swan is near Polk County and also Warren County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- eBird sighting report for Warren 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 Swan ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Swan.
Within Iowa, the name Swan is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Fannin County
- This Swan is located in Fannin County and lies 677 miles [1,089.5 km]<2> to the southeast of the Swan that is located in Marion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fannin County community of Swan.
- Irwin 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 Georgia community of Swan [Irwin County].
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Swan ...
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
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Ford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Greenbush
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Ivy
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Pleasantville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Pleasantville is located in Marion County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,714 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasantville <5>
- Prairie City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie City
- Prairie City is located in Jasper County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,721 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie City <5>
- Prairiebell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairiebell have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairiebell
- Prairiebell is located in Jasper County
- Sandyville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandyville
- Sandyville is located in Warren County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
How Far From Swan to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Swan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Swan and extending to:
- Knoxville, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Swan to Knoxville, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 18 miles [29 km] to the west northwest (WNW). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 875 miles [1,408.2 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 50 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,405 miles [10,307.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,153 miles [11,511.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,047 miles [8,122.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Swan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Swan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Swan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4660, Longitude: -93.3127 |
| <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 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 Swan 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Swan 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 318.27 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.663 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.53 degrees. |