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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Thor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thor 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 Thor:
    • 42.689390, -94.049615
    • 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 Thor
  • 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 Humboldt County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Humboldt County
    • Since Thor is near Webster County and also Wright County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Webster County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wright 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 Thor

Communities Also Named Thor ...

We found two communities that are also named Thor.

Within Iowa, the name Thor is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Aitkin County
      • This Thor is located in Aitkin County and lies 263 miles [423.3 km]<1> to the north of the Thor that is located in Humboldt County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aitkin County community of Thor.
    • South Carolina
      • Lexington County
      • This Thor is located in Lexington County and lies 928 miles [1,493.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Thor that is located in Humboldt County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lexington County community of Thor.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Thor ...

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.

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

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

  • Dakota City, which is the Seat of Humboldt County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 78 miles [125.5 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Thor to Des Moines, with an average speed<3>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 5 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 925 miles [1,488.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 53 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,367 miles [10,246.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,118 miles [11,455.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,019 miles [8,077.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Thor) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Thor 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 Thor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6894, Longitude: -94.0496    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.817 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.452 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.63 degrees.