RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Decatur County >> Van Wert >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Van Wert, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Wert 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 Van Wert:
    • 40.870315, -93.792921
    • 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 Van Wert
  • 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 Decatur County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Decatur County
    • Since Van Wert is near Clarke County and also Lucas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lucas 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 Van Wert

Communities Also Named Van Wert ...

We found three communities that are also named Van Wert.

Within Iowa, the name Van Wert is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Polk County
      • This Van Wert is located in Polk County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Van Wert that is located in Decatur County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Van Wert.
    • Ohio
      • Van Wert County
      • This Van Wert is located in Van Wert County and lies 480 miles [772.5 km]<1> to the east of the Van Wert that is located in Decatur County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Van Wert County community of Van Wert.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Juniata County
      • This Van Wert is located in Juniata County and lies 862 miles [1,387.3 km]<1> to the east of the Van Wert that is located in Decatur County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Juniata County community of Van Wert.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Wert ...

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.

  • Garden Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
  • Grand River
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Grand River is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
  • Groveland ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Groveland is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
  • High Point
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • High Point is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Hopeville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Last Chance
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Last Chance is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
  • Le Roy
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Leon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Leslie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Leslie is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie

How Far From Van Wert 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 Wert to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Leon, which is the Seat of Decatur County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Van Wert to Leon, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 50 miles [80.5 km] to the north (N). 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 most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 896 miles [1,442 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,452 miles [10,383.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,200 miles [11,587.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,093 miles [8,196.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Van Wert) 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 Van Wert 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 Van Wert. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8703, Longitude: -93.7929    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.579 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.94 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.906 degrees.