Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vulcan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vulcan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vulcan
- 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 Vulcan:
- 41.420285, -92.369907
- 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 Vulcan
- 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 Keokuk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Keokuk County
- Since Vulcan is near Mahaska County and also Poweshiek County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mahaska County
- eBird sighting report for Poweshiek 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 Vulcan ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Vulcan.
Within Iowa, the name Vulcan is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Alberta
- This Vulcan lies 1,173 miles [1,887.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Vulcan that is located in Keokuk County.
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Columbiana County
- This Vulcan is located in Columbiana County and lies 612 miles [984.9 km]<1> to the east of the Vulcan that is located in Keokuk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbiana County community of Vulcan.
- Lucas County
- This Vulcan is located in Lucas County and lies 452 miles [727.4 km] to the east of the Vulcan that is located in Keokuk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lucas County community of Vulcan.
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vulcan ...
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.
- Aurora
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Coal Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coal Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
- Coal Creek is located in Keokuk County
- Delta
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
- Delta is located in Keokuk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
- Indianapolis
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianapolis
- Indianapolis is located in Mahaska County
- Jamestown
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Rose Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Rose Hill is located in Mahaska County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
- Spring Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Spring Valley is located in Mahaska County
- What Cheer
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for What Cheer
- What Cheer is located in Keokuk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 615 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for What Cheer <5>
How Far From Vulcan 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 community such as Vulcan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Vulcan once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Vulcan and extending to:
- Sigourney, which is the Seat of Keokuk County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Vulcan to Sigourney, with an average speed<6> 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 65 miles [104.6 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 826 miles [1,329.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 47 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,375 miles [10,259.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,121 miles [11,460.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,012 miles [8,066 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 from Point A (ie- Vulcan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vulcan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4203, Longitude: -92.3699 In this case, the coordinates for Vulcan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Vulcan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Vulcan 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 Vulcan 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 317.621 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.912 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.06 degrees. |