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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Frances, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Frances 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 Frances:
    • 39.605880, -86.168876
    • 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 Frances
  • 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 Johnson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson County
    • Since Frances is near Marion County and also Morgan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan 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 Frances

Communities Also Named Frances ...

We found four communities that are also named Frances.

Within Indiana, the name Frances is unique.

Beyond Indiana, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Orange County
      • This Frances is located in Orange County and lies 1,786 miles [2,874.3 km]<1> to the west of the Frances that is located in Johnson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Frances.
    • Kentucky
      • Crittenden County
      • This Frances is located in Crittenden County and lies 196 miles [315.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Frances that is located in Johnson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crittenden County community of Frances.
    • Ohio
      • Van Wert County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Van Wert County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Van Wert County community of Frances.
    • Washington
      • Pacific County
      • This Frances is located in Pacific County and lies 1,923 miles [3,094.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Frances that is located in Johnson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pacific County community of Frances.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Frances ...

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.

  • Clearview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Clearview is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview
  • Deerwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Deerwood is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
  • Eagle Trace
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Eagle Trace is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Trace
  • El Dorado
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • El Dorado is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Dorado
  • Glenns Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Glenns Valley is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenns Valley
  • Golden Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Golden Grove is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Grove
  • Green Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Green Valley is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Greenwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Hunters Pointe
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hunters Pointe is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Pointe
  • Imperial Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Imperial Hills is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial Hills
  • Pebble Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Pebble Hills is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Hills
  • Pebble Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Pebble Run is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Run
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Stones Crossing
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Stones Crossing is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stones Crossing
    • Waters Edge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Waters Edge is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Edge
    • Willow Lakes
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Willow Lakes is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Lakes
    • Woodland Stream
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Woodland Stream is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Stream

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

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

  • Franklin, which is the Seat of Johnson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Frances to Franklin, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 11 miles [17.7 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 490 miles [788.6 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 20 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,236 miles [10,035.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,965 miles [11,209.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,842 miles [7,792.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Frances) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Frances, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Frances 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 Frances. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6059, Longitude: -86.1689       In this case, the coordinates for Frances have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.483 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.92 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.517 degrees.