Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Chester, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Chester and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Chester
- 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 Chester:
- 41.340001, -91.816860
- 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 Chester
- 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Since West Chester is near Keokuk County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Keokuk County
- eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 West Chester ...
We found seven communities that share the name West Chester.
Within Iowa, the name West Chester is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Michigan
- Ottawa 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 Chester [Ottawa County].
- Ohio
- Butler County
- This West Chester is located in Butler County and lies 413 miles [664.7 km]<2> to the east southeast of the West Chester that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of West Chester.
- Tuscarawas County
- This West Chester is located in Tuscarawas County and lies 552 miles [888.4 km] to the east of the West Chester that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of West Chester.
- Pennsylvania
- Chester County
- This West Chester is located in Chester County and lies 853 miles [1,372.8 km]<2> to the east of the West Chester that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chester County community of West Chester.
- South Carolina
- Chester 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 South Carolina community of West Chester [Chester County].
- Richland County
- This West Chester is located in Richland County and lies 771 miles [1,240.8 km]<2> to the southeast of the West Chester that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of West Chester.
- Virginia
- Roanoke City
- This West Chester is located in Roanoke City and lies 690 miles [1,110.4 km]<2> to the east southeast of the West Chester that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke City community of West Chester.
- Michigan
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Chester ...
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.
- Amish
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amish
- Amish is located in Johnson County
- Eureka ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Frytown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frytown
- Frytown is located in Johnson County
- Germanville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Germanville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germanville
- Germanville is located in Jefferson County
- Grace Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grace Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Hill
- Grace Hill is located in Washington County
- Green Center
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Center
- Green Center is located in Iowa County
- Harper
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Iowa Junction ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Junction
- Iowa Junction is located in Washington County
- Noble
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast) - Pleasant Plain
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plain
- Pleasant Plain is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
How Far From West Chester to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers 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 Chester to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Chester and extending to:
- Washington, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from West Chester to Des Moines, with an average speed<4>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 6 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 797 miles [1,282.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,359 miles [10,233.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,104 miles [11,432.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,994 miles [8,037.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Chester. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 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 West Chester 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 Chester) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Chester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3400, Longitude: -91.8169 In this case, the coordinates for West Chester have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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. |
| <5> | 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 Chester to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.242 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.466 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.80 degrees. |