Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Thayer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thayer and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Thayer
- 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 Thayer:
- 41.028983, -94.050465
- 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 Thayer
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since Thayer is near Clarke County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clarke County
- eBird sighting report for Madison 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 Thayer ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Thayer.
Within Iowa, the name Thayer is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Gogebic County
- This Thayer is located in Gogebic County and lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Thayer that is located in Union County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gogebic County community of Thayer.
- Oakland 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 Thayer [Oakland County].
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- South Carolina
- Texas
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Thayer ...
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.
- Barney
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barney
- Barney is located in Madison County
- Grand River
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
- Grand River is located in Decatur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Groveland ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east) - Hopeville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Leslie
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast) - Macksburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macksburg
- Macksburg is located in Madison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
- Murray
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Old Peru
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north) - Tingley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tingley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tingley
- Tingley is located in Ringgold County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tingley <4>
How Far From Thayer 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 Thayer to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Thayer and extending to:
- Creston, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Thayer to Creston, with an average speed<5> 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 five to six hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 45 miles [72.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 910 miles [1,464.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,453 miles [10,385.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,201 miles [11,588.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,096 miles [8,201.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Thayer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thayer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thayer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0290, Longitude: -94.0505 |
| <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 Thayer 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> | 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. |
| <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 Thayer to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.763 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.173 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.003 degrees. |