RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Idaho >> Madison County >> Plano >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Plano, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plano and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Plano:
    • 43.891022, -111.890821
    • 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 Plano
  • 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 Plano ...

We found fourteen communities that share the name Plano.

Within Idaho, the name Plano is unique.

Beyond Idaho, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cherokee County
      • This Plano is located in Cherokee County and lies 1,548 miles [2,491.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Plano.
    • California
      • Tulare County
      • This Plano is located in Tulare County and lies 659 miles [1,060.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tulare County community of Plano.
    • Illinois
      • Kendall County
      • This Plano is located in Kendall County and lies 1,190 miles [1,915.1 km]<1> to the east of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kendall County community of Plano.
    • Indiana
      • Morgan County
      • This Plano is located in Morgan County and lies 1,332 miles [2,143.6 km]<1> to the east of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Plano.
    • Iowa
      • Appanoose County
      • This Plano is located in Appanoose County and lies 983 miles [1,582 km]<1> to the east of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Appanoose County community of Plano.
    • Kansas
      • Comanche 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 Plano [Comanche County].
      • Stafford 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 Plano [Stafford County].
    • Kentucky
      • Warren County
      • This Plano is located in Warren County and lies 1,417 miles [2,280.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Plano.
    • Minnesota
      • Nicollet 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 Minnesota community of Plano [Nicollet County].
    • Missouri
      • Greene County
      • This Plano is located in Greene County and lies 1,064 miles [1,712.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Plano.
    • Nebraska
      • Keith County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Keith County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Keith County community of Plano.
    • Ohio
      • Fayette County
      • This Plano is located in Fayette County and lies 1,497 miles [2,409.2 km]<1> to the east of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Plano.
    • South Dakota
      • Hanson County
      • This Plano is located in Hanson County and lies 694 miles [1,116.9 km]<1> to the east of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hanson County community of Plano.
    • Texas
      • Collin County
      • This Plano is located in Collin County and lies 1,105 miles [1,778.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Plano that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Collin County community of Plano.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Plano ...

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.

  • Annis
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Archer
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Gale
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gale
    • Gale is located in Madison County
  • Hart
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hart have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
    • Hart is located in Madison County
  • Hawgood
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawgood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawgood
    • Hawgood is located in Jefferson County
  • Independence ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Independence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
    • Independence is located in Madison County
  • Jenkins Will
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jenkins Will have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Will
    • Jenkins Will is located in Fremont County
  • Jensen
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jensen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jensen
    • Jensen is located in Madison County
  • Jolley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jolley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolley
    • Jolley is located in Madison County
  • Mark
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mark have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mark
    • Mark is located in Madison County
  • Moody
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moody have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
    • Moody is located in Madison County
  • Sugar City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar City
    • Sugar City is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,510 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar City <5>

How Far From Plano to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Plano to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Rexburg, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Boise City, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 215 miles [346 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Plano to Boise City, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,824 miles [2,935.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 72 days and walking would take 104 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,807 miles [10,954.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,576 miles [12,192.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,577 miles [8,975.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

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- Plano) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plano. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8910, Longitude: -111.8908    
<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 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 Plano 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 Plano, 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 Plano 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 332.182 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 332.057 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.494 degrees.