Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Union, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Union and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Union
- 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 Union:
- 42.190546, -92.446579
- 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 Union
- 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 Tama County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Tama County
- Since West Union is near Black Hawk County and also Grundy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Black Hawk County
- eBird sighting report for Grundy 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 Union ...
We found 22 communities that share the name West Union.
There is one other community in Iowa which is also named West Union.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Iowa ...
- Fayette County
- This West Union is located in Fayette County and lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of West Union.
- Fayette County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Clark County
- This West Union is located in Clark County and lies 323 miles [519.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of West Union.
- Indiana
- Parke County
- This West Union is located in Parke County and lies 311 miles [500.5 km]<1> to the east southeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Parke County community of West Union.
- Kansas
- Norton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of West Union [Norton County].
- Phillips County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of West Union [Phillips County].
- Washington County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of West Union [Washington County].
- Minnesota
- Carver County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Carver County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carver County community of West Union.
- Todd County
- This West Union is located in Todd County and lies 281 miles [452.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Todd County community of West Union.
- Mississippi
- Union County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of West Union [Union County].
- Missouri
- Cass County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Cass County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of West Union.
- Nebraska
- Custer County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of West Union [Custer County].
- New York
- Steuben County
- This West Union is located in Steuben County and lies 752 miles [1,210.2 km]<1> to the east of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Steuben County community of West Union.
- Ohio
- Adams County
- This West Union is located in Adams County and lies 522 miles [840.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of West Union.
- Hancock County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of West Union [Hancock County].
- Monroe County
- This community is historic and although located in Monroe County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of West Union.
- Oregon
- Washington County
- This West Union is located in Washington County and lies 1,523 miles [2,451 km]<1> to the west northwest of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of West Union.
- Pennsylvania
- Greene County
- This West Union is located in Greene County and lies 650 miles [1,046.1 km]<1> to the east of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of West Union.
- South Carolina
- Oconee County
- This West Union is located in Oconee County and lies 721 miles [1,160.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconee County community of West Union.
- Tennessee
- Shelby County
- This West Union is located in Shelby County and lies 489 miles [787 km]<1> to the south southeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of West Union.
- Weakley County
- This West Union is located in Weakley County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km] to the south southeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weakley County community of West Union.
- West Virginia
- Doddridge County
- This West Union is located in Doddridge County and lies 641 miles [1,031.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Doddridge County community of West Union.
- Pocahontas County
- This West Union is located in Pocahontas County and lies 702 miles [1,129.8 km] to the east southeast of the West Union that is located in Tama County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pocahontas County community of West Union.
- Illinois
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Union ...
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.
- Blessing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blessing
- Blessing is located in Black Hawk County
- Geneva
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Helena
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - Hicks
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Keystone
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keystone have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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 <5>
- Lincoln
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west) - Long Point
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
- Long Point is located in Tama County
- Louise
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Orange
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north) - Redman ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast) - Rogersville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rogersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
- Rogersville is located in Benton County
How Far From West Union 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 West Union 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 West Union once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in West Union and extending to:
- Toledo, which is the Seat of Tama County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Union to Toledo, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 72 miles [115.9 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 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 838 miles [1,348.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,338 miles [10,200 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,086 miles [11,403.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,981 miles [8,016.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Tama County: www.tamacounty.org/
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' (or 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- West Union) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Union. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1905, Longitude: -92.4466 In this case, the coordinates for West Union have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Union 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> | 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 West Union, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 West Union 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 317.693 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.097 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.914 degrees. |