RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Branch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Branch 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 West Branch:
    • 41.671433, -91.345418
    • 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 West Branch
  • 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 West Branch ...

We found nine communities that share the name West Branch.

Within Iowa, the name West Branch is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Butte County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of West Branch [Butte County].
    • Michigan
      • Marquette County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of West Branch [Marquette County].
      • Ogemaw County
      • This West Branch is located in Ogemaw County and lies 401 miles [645.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the West Branch that is located in Cedar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ogemaw County community of West Branch.
    • New Brunswick
      • This West Branch lies 1,344 miles [2,163 km]<2> to the east northeast of the West Branch that is located in Cedar County.
    • New York
      • Oneida County
      • This West Branch is located in Oneida County and lies 814 miles [1,310 km]<2> to the east northeast of the West Branch that is located in Cedar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oneida County community of West Branch.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This West Branch lies 1,432 miles [2,304.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the West Branch that is located in Cedar County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Cambria County
      • This West Branch is located in Cambria County and lies 655 miles [1,054.1 km]<2> to the east of the West Branch that is located in Cedar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cambria County community of West Branch.
    • Vermont
      • Lamoille County
      • This West Branch is located in Lamoille County and lies 957 miles [1,540.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the West Branch that is located in Cedar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lamoille County community of West Branch.
    • Washington
      • Spokane County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of West Branch [Spokane County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Branch ...

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.

  • Cedar Bluff
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
    • Cedar Bluff is located in Cedar County
  • Cedar Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
    • Cedar Valley is located in Cedar County
  • Graham ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
    • Graham is located in Johnson County
  • Hills
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills
    • Hills is located in Johnson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 834 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hills <4>
  • Iowa City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Morse
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morse have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morse
    • Morse is located in Johnson County
  • Oasis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
    • Oasis is located in Johnson County
  • Plato
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plato have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato
    • Plato is located in Cedar County
  • University Heights
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
    • University Heights is located in Johnson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,025 people

How Far From West Branch 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 West Branch to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Tipton, which is the Seat of Cedar County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Branch to Tipton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 117 miles [188.3 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 776 miles [1,248.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 44 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,326 miles [10,180.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,071 miles [11,379.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,961 miles [7,984 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

The official website for West Branch: www.westbranchiowa.org/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 West Branch 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.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- West Branch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Branch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6714, Longitude: -91.3454    
<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 West Branch 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 316.928 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.151 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.48 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 20 Jul 2024