RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Decatur County >> Downeyville >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Downeyville:
    • 39.427549, -85.554417
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Downeyville
  • 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 Decatur County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Decatur County
    • Since Downeyville is near Rush County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rush County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Downeyville

Communities Also Named Downeyville ...

We found two communities that are also named Downeyville.

Within Indiana, the name Downeyville is unique.

Beyond Indiana, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Nevada
      • Nye County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Downeyville [Nye County].
    • Ontario
      • This Downeyville lies 494 miles [795 km]<2> to the northeast of the Downeyville that is located in Decatur County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Downeyville ...

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.

  • Craig
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Craig is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
  • Geneva
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Geneva is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
  • Harris City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Harris City is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris City
  • Homer
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Homer is located in Rush County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
  • Mechanicsburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mechanicsburg is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
  • Moscow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Moscow is located in Rush County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
  • Pleasure Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Pleasure Valley is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasure Valley
  • Rays Crossing
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rays Crossing is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rays Crossing
  • Rugby
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rugby is located in Bartholomew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
  • Sleepy Hollow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Sleepy Hollow is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow

How Far From Downeyville 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 Downeyville to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Decatur County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 39 miles [62.8 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Downeyville to Indianapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 457 miles [735.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,221 miles [10,011.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,948 miles [11,181.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,824 miles [7,763.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Downeyville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Downeyville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Downeyville to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Downeyville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4275, Longitude: -85.5544       In this case, the coordinates for Downeyville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.09 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.445 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.284 degrees.