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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Luther, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Luther 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 Luther:
    • 41.002823, -85.573869
    • 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 Luther
  • 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 Whitley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Whitley County
    • Since Luther is near Huntington County and also Wabash County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Huntington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wabash 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 Luther

Communities Also Named Luther ...

We found nineteen communities that are also named Luther.

Within Indiana, the name Luther is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Santa Clara 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 California community of Luther [Santa Clara County].
    • Georgia
      • Warren 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 Georgia community of Luther [Warren County].
    • Illinois
      • Mason County
      • This Luther is located in Mason County and lies 221 miles [355.7 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mason County community of Luther.
    • Iowa
      • Boone County
      • This Luther is located in Boone County and lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boone County community of Luther.
    • Kansas
      • Morris 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 Luther [Morris County].
      • Washington County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Luther [Washington County].
    • Michigan
      • Lake County
      • This Luther is located in Lake County and lies 209 miles [336.4 km]<2> to the north of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Luther.
    • Mississippi
      • Leake County
      • This Luther is located in Leake County and lies 604 miles [972 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leake County community of Luther.
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis City
      • 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 Missouri community of Luther [Saint Louis City].
    • Montana
      • Carbon County
      • This Luther is located in Carbon County and lies 1,232 miles [1,982.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carbon County community of Luther.
    • New York
      • Rensselaer County
      • This Luther is located in Rensselaer County and lies 623 miles [1,002.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rensselaer County community of Luther.
    • North Carolina
      • Buncombe County
      • This Luther is located in Buncombe County and lies 407 miles [655 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buncombe County community of Luther.
    • Oklahoma
      • Oklahoma County
      • This Luther is located in Oklahoma County and lies 728 miles [1,171.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma County community of Luther.
    • Oregon
      • Clackamas County
      • This Luther is located in Clackamas County and lies 1,870 miles [3,009.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clackamas County community of Luther.
    • South Carolina
      • Bamberg 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 South Carolina community of Luther [Bamberg County].
    • Tennessee
      • Hancock County
      • This Luther is located in Hancock County and lies 337 miles [542.3 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Luther.
    • Texas
      • Briscoe 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 Texas community of Luther [Briscoe County].
      • Harrison County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Luther [Harrison County].
      • Howard County
      • This Luther is located in Howard County and lies 1,056 miles [1,699.5 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Luther that is located in Whitley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Luther.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Luther ...

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.

  • Bracken
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bracken is located in Huntington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bracken
  • Five Points
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Five Points is located in Whitley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Forest Ridge
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Forest Ridge is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Ridge
  • Goblesville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Goblesville is located in Huntington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goblesville
  • Liberty Hills
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Liberty Hills is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hills
  • Liberty Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Liberty Mills is located in Wabash County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Mills
  • Manor Woods
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Manor Woods is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor Woods
  • Monument City ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Monument City is located in Huntington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument City
  • Peabody
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Peabody is located in Whitley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peabody
  • Rolling Hills
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Rolling Hills is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
  • Saturn
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Saturn is located in Whitley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saturn
  • Walnut Corners
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Walnut Corners is located in Whitley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Corners

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

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

  • Columbia City, which is the Seat of Whitley County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Luther to Columbia City, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 90 miles [144.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 474 miles [762.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,147 miles [9,892.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,879 miles [11,070.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,758 miles [7,657.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Luther 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Luther) 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 Luther, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Luther 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 Luther. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0028, Longitude: -85.5739       In this case, the coordinates for Luther have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.094 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.676 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.826 degrees.