Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Mason City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mason City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Mason City
- 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 Mason City:
- 40.202397, -89.696392
- 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 Mason City
- 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 Mason County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mason County
- Since Mason City is near Menard County and also Logan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Menard County
- eBird sighting report for Logan 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 Mason City ...
We found five communities that share the name Mason City.
Within Illinois, the name Mason City is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Jefferson County
- This Mason City is located in Jefferson County and lies 490 miles [788.6 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Mason City that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Mason City.
- Iowa
- Cerro Gordo County
- This Mason City is located in Cerro Gordo County and lies 272 miles [437.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Mason City that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cerro Gordo County community of Mason City.
- Nebraska
- Custer County
- This Mason City is located in Custer County and lies 507 miles [815.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Mason City that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Custer County community of Mason City.
- Washington
- Okanogan County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Mason City [Okanogan County].
- West Virginia
- Mason County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Mason City [Mason County].
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mason City ...
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.
- Allen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Bishop
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Forest City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- Forest City is located in Mason County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Green Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Green Valley is located in Tazewell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Green Valley <5>
- Greenview
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenview have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenview
- Greenview is located in Menard County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 715 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenview <5>
- Harness
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Hartsburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsburg
- Hartsburg is located in Logan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 302 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartsburg <5>
- Luther
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - New Holland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Holland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Holland
- New Holland is located in Logan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 266 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Holland <5>
- Poplar City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar City
- Poplar City is located in Mason County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poplar City <5>
- Sweet Water
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Water have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Water
- Sweet Water is located in Menard County
- Union
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Mason City 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 city such as Mason City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Mason City and extending to:
- Havana, which is the Seat of Mason County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Mason City to Havana, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 29 miles [46.7 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 679 miles [1,092.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,340 miles [10,203.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,078 miles [11,390.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,961 miles [7,984 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Mason City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Mason County: www.masoncountyil.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mason City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mason City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2024, Longitude: -89.6964 |
| <2> | 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 Mason City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Mason City 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. |
| <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 Mason City 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 315.79 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.645 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.031 degrees. |