Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Western, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Western and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Western
- 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 Western:
- 41.865013, -91.643168
- 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 Western
- 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 Linn County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Linn County
- Since Western is near Johnson County and also Iowa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- eBird sighting report for Iowa 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 Western ...
We found eight communities that share the name Western.
Within Iowa, the name Western is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Utah
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Western ...
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 Rapids
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rapids
- Cedar Rapids is located in Linn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 134,027 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Rapids <3>
- Coralville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coralville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coralville
- Coralville is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 22,484 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coralville <3>
- Grand View Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand View Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Village
- Grand View Village is located in Linn County
- Green Castle ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Castle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Castle
- Green Castle is located in Johnson County
- Hiawatha
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hiawatha have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiawatha
- Hiawatha is located in Linn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,466 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hiawatha <3>
- Lincolnway Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincolnway Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnway Village
- Lincolnway Village is located in Linn County
- Marion
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
- Marion is located in Linn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40,780 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marion <3>
- Swisher
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swisher have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swisher
- Swisher is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 959 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Swisher <3>
- Twin View Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin View Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin View Heights
- Twin View Heights is located in Johnson County
How Far From Western 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 Western to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Western and extending to:
- Cedar Rapids, which is the Seat of Linn County, lies just to the North.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 103 miles [165.8 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Western to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>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 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 794 miles [1,277.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 46 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,327 miles [10,182.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,073 miles [11,382.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,964 miles [7,988.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Western. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Linn County: www.co.linn.ia.us/
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Western) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Western. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8650, Longitude: -91.6432 |
| <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 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 Western 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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 Western 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 317.135 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.414 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.583 degrees. |