RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Saint Joseph County >> South Bend >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in South Bend, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Bend 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 South Bend:
    • 41.676565, -86.250337
    • 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 South Bend
  • 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 Saint Joseph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Joseph County
    • Since South Bend is near Berrien County and also Cass County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berrien County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cass 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 South Bend

Communities Also Named South Bend ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named South Bend.

Within Indiana, the name South Bend is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Lincoln 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 Arkansas community of South Bend [Lincoln County].
      • Lonoke County
      • This South Bend is located in Lonoke County and lies 566 miles [910.9 km]<2> to the southwest of the South Bend that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lonoke County community of South Bend.
    • Georgia
      • Clayton County
      • This South Bend is located in Clayton County and lies 564 miles [907.7 km]<2> to the south of the South Bend that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clayton County community of South Bend.
    • Kansas
      • Cowley County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of South Bend [Cowley County].
      • Morris 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 South Bend [Morris County].
    • Louisiana
      • Saint Mary Parish
      • This South Bend is located in Saint Mary Parish and lies 882 miles [1,419.4 km]<2> to the south southwest of the South Bend that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Mary Parish community of South Bend.
    • Minnesota
      • Blue Earth County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of South Bend [Blue Earth County].
    • Nebraska
      • Cass County
      • This South Bend is located in Cass County and lies 520 miles [836.9 km]<2> to the west of the South Bend that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of South Bend.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Armstrong County
      • This South Bend is located in Armstrong County and lies 364 miles [585.8 km]<2> to the east of the South Bend that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of South Bend.
    • Texas
      • Harris County
      • This South Bend is located in Harris County and lies 973 miles [1,565.9 km]<2> to the southwest of the South Bend that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of South Bend.
      • Young County
      • This South Bend is located in Young County and lies 905 miles [1,456.5 km] to the southwest of the South Bend that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Young County community of South Bend.
    • Washington
      • Pacific County
      • This South Bend is located in Pacific County and lies 1,872 miles [3,012.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the South Bend that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pacific County community of South Bend.
    • Wyoming
      • Laramie County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wyoming community of South Bend [Laramie County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near South Bend ...

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.

  • Bakertown
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Chain-O-Lakes
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Chain-O-Lakes is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chain-O-Lakes
  • Edwardsburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Georgetown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Georgetown is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Indian Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Indian Village is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
  • Lakeville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Maple Lane
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Maple Lane is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Lane
  • Nutwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Olive
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Olive is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
  • Pine Station
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Pine Station is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Station
  • Roseland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Roseland is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people

How Far From South Bend 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 city such as South Bend to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 131 miles [210.8 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from South Bend to Indianapolis, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 521 miles [838.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,141 miles [9,883 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,876 miles [11,065.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,757 miles [7,655.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 South Bend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- South Bend) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 South Bend 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.
<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 South Bend 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 South Bend. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6766, Longitude: -86.2503    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.526 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.266 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.948 degrees.