Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Van Buren, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Buren and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Van Buren
- 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 Van Buren:
- 40.615718, -85.503840
- 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 Van Buren
- 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 Grant County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Grant County
- Since Van Buren is near Wells County and also Huntington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wells County
- eBird sighting report for Huntington 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Van Buren ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Van Buren.
Within Indiana, the name Van Buren is unique.
Beyond Indiana, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Jackson County
- This Van Buren is located in Jackson County and lies 271 miles [436.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Van Buren that is located in Grant County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Van Buren.
- Lee County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Lee County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Van Buren.
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Carter County
- This Van Buren is located in Carter County and lies 386 miles [621.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Van Buren that is located in Grant County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carter County community of Van Buren.
- Osage County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Osage County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Osage County community of Van Buren.
- New York
- Chautauqua 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 New York community of Van Buren [Chautauqua County].
- Onondaga County
- This Van Buren is located in Onondaga County and lies 503 miles [809.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Van Buren that is located in Grant County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Van Buren.
- Ohio
- Hancock County
- This Van Buren is located in Hancock County and lies 103 miles [165.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Van Buren that is located in Grant County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Van Buren.
- Licking 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 Ohio community of Van Buren [Licking County].
- Pennsylvania
- Armstrong County
- This Van Buren is located in Armstrong County and lies 310 miles [498.9 km]<1> to the east of the Van Buren that is located in Grant County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of Van Buren.
- Washington County
- This Van Buren is located in Washington County and lies 276 miles [444.2 km] to the east of the Van Buren that is located in Grant County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Van Buren.
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Buren ...
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.
- Buckeye
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Five Points
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Wells County
- Fox
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Friendly Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendly Corner
- Friendly Corner is located in Grant County
- Gas City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gas City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas City
- Gas City is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,698 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gas City <5>
- Home Corner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Home Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Corner
- Home Corner is located in Grant County
- Jeff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Marion
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
- Marion is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27,674 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marion <5>
- Pleasant Plain
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Plain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plain
- Pleasant Plain is located in Huntington County
- Plum Tree
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Tree
- Plum Tree is located in Huntington County
- River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Shadeland
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Shady Hills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Hills
- Shady Hills is located in Grant County
How Far From Van Buren 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 town such as Van Buren to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Van Buren and extending to:
- Marion, which is the Seat of Grant County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Van Buren to Marion, with an average speed<6> 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 68 miles [109.4 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 about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 464 miles [746.7 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,163 miles [9,918.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,893 miles [11,093.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,772 miles [7,679.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Van Buren. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Grant County: www.grantcounty.net/
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' (or 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- Van Buren) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Van Buren. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6157, Longitude: -85.5038 In this case, the coordinates for Van Buren 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 Van Buren, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Van Buren 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> | 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. |
| <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 Van Buren 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 313.053 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.574 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.91 degrees. |