Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Whitten, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whitten and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Whitten
- 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 Whitten:
- 42.262596, -93.009678
- 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 Whitten
- 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 Hardin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hardin County
- Since Whitten is near Marshall County and also Grundy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Whitten ...
We found two communities that share the name Whitten.
Within Iowa, the name Whitten is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- South Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Whitten ...
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.
- Berlin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Green Mountain
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Mountain
- Green Mountain is located in Marshall County
- Holland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
- Holland is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holland <4>
- Hughs
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Illinois Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Illinois Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinois Grove
- Illinois Grove is located in Marshall County
- Lawn Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Minerva
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Steamboat Rock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steamboat Rock
- Steamboat Rock is located in Hardin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 298 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steamboat Rock <4>
- Union
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Whitten 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 Whitten to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Whitten and extending to:
- Eldora, which is the Seat of Hardin County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Whitten to Des Moines, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 867 miles [1,395.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,354 miles [10,225.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,103 miles [11,431.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,999 miles [8,045.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Whitten. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Whitten) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Whitten. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2626, Longitude: -93.0097 In this case, the coordinates for Whitten 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 Whitten 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> | 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 Whitten 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 318.083 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.554 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.188 degrees. |