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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Harlan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harlan 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 Harlan:
    • 41.196161, -84.919687
    • 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 Harlan
  • 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 Allen County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allen County
    • Since Harlan is near DeKalb County and also Paulding County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Paulding 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 Harlan

Communities Also Named Harlan ...

We found ten communities that are also named Harlan.

Within Indiana, the name Harlan is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Clay County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Harlan [Clay County].
    • Iowa
      • Shelby County
      • This Harlan is located in Shelby County and lies 539 miles [867.4 km]<2> to the west of the Harlan that is located in Allen County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Harlan.
    • Kansas
      • Neosho County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Harlan [Neosho County].
      • Smith County
      • This Harlan is located in Smith County and lies 735 miles [1,182.9 km]<2> to the west of the Harlan that is located in Allen County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smith County community of Harlan.
    • Kentucky
      • Harlan County
      • This Harlan is located in Harlan County and lies 312 miles [502.1 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Harlan that is located in Allen County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harlan County community of Harlan.
    • Michigan
      • Manistee County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Harlan [Manistee County].
    • Mississippi
      • Noxubee County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Harlan [Noxubee County].
    • Nebraska
      • Cherry County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Cherry County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherry County community of Harlan.
    • Oregon
      • Lincoln County
      • This Harlan is located in Lincoln County and lies 1,957 miles [3,149.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Harlan that is located in Allen County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Harlan.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clarion County
      • This Harlan is located in Clarion County and lies 296 miles [476.4 km]<2> to the east of the Harlan that is located in Allen County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Harlan.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Harlan ...

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.

  • Cedar Shores
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Shores is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Shores
  • Cedarville ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Cedarville is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
  • Cuba
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cuba is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
  • Five Points
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Five Points is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Georgetown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Georgetown is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Halls Corners
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Halls Corners is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Corners
  • Hopewell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hopewell is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Leo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Link ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Link is located in Paulding County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Link

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

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

  • Fort Wayne, which is the Seat of Allen County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Harlan to Fort Wayne, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 118 miles [189.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 445 miles [716.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,113 miles [9,837.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,844 miles [11,014.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,723 miles [7,600.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Harlan 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Harlan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Harlan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Harlan 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 Harlan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1962, Longitude: -84.9197       In this case, the coordinates for Harlan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.668 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.219 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.454 degrees.