Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Van Horne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Horne and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Van Horne
- 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 Van Horne:
- 42.008596, -92.088451
- 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 Van Horne
- 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 Benton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Benton County
- Since Van Horne is near Iowa County and also Tama County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Iowa County
- eBird sighting report for Tama 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 Van Horne ...
We found two communities that share the name Van Horne.
Within Iowa, the name Van Horne is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Ontario
- This Van Horne lies 511 miles [822.4 km]<1> to the east of the Van Horne that is located in Benton County.
- Wisconsin
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Horne ...
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.
- Center Point
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
- Center Point is located in Linn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,560 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Point <4>
- Dover
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest) - Eden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Geneva
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Grand View Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand View Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Village
- Grand View Village is located in Linn County
- Helena
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west) - Hiawatha
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hiawatha have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiawatha
- Hiawatha is located in Linn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,466 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hiawatha <4>
- Homestead
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homestead have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
- Homestead is located in Iowa County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homestead <4>
- Keystone
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keystone have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
- Keystone is located in Benton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 615 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keystone <4>
- Long Point
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
- Long Point is located in Tama County
- Redman ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Rogersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rogersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
- Rogersville is located in Benton County
- Toddville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toddville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toddville
- Toddville is located in Linn County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Toddville <4>
How Far From Van Horne 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 Van Horne to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Van Horne and extending to:
- Vinton, which is the Seat of Benton County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Van Horne to Vinton, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 83 miles [133.6 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 818 miles [1,316.4 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 6,335 miles [10,195.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,082 miles [11,397.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,975 miles [8,006.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Van Horne. 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 '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- Van Horne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Van Horne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0086, Longitude: -92.0885 |
| <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 Van Horne 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 Van Horne 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 317.443 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.786 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.775 degrees. |