RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
Quarter for
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The Commemorative Quarter for Indiana





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Harris City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harris City 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 Harris City:
    • 39.277445, -85.524576
    • 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 Harris City
  • 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 Harris City ...

We found two communities that share the name Harris City.

Within Indiana, the name Harris City is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Meriwether County
      • This Harris City is located in Meriwether County and lies 437 miles [703.3 km]<1> to the south of the Harris City that is located in Decatur County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meriwether County community of Harris City.
    • Ohio
      • Hancock County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Hancock County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Harris City.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Harris 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.

  • Alert
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Craig
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Craig have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
    • Craig is located in Decatur County
  • Harper
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
    • Harper is located in Decatur County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Harper
    • From Harris City to Harper
  • Hartsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Mechanicsburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
    • Mechanicsburg is located in Decatur County
  • Napoleon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Pinhook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pinhook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinhook
    • Pinhook is located in Decatur County
  • Rugby
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rugby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
    • Rugby is located in Bartholomew County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Rugby
    • From Harris City to Rugby
  • Slabtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slabtown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
    • Slabtown is located in Decatur County

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

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

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Decatur County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Harris City to Indianapolis, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 455 miles [732.3 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,226 miles [10,019.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,953 miles [11,189.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,830 miles [7,773.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Harris City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Decatur County: www.decaturcounty.in.gov/

The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Harris City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harris City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2774, Longitude: -85.5246       In this case, the coordinates for Harris City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Harris City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Harris 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 313.071 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.402 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.313 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025