RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Thomas County >> Gem >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gem, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gem 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 Gem:
    • 39.425983, -100.897230
    • 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 Gem
  • 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 Thomas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Thomas County
    • Since Gem is near Rawlins County and also Sheridan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rawlins County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sheridan 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 Gem

Communities Also Named Gem ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Gem.

There is one other community in Kansas that is also named Gem.

Beyond Kansas, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, twelve are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Kansas ...
    • Reno 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 Gem [Reno County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Gem lies 964 miles [1,551.4 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Gem that is located in Thomas County.
    • Georgia
      • Bulloch 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 Gem [Bulloch County].
    • Idaho
      • Shoshone County
      • This Gem is located in Shoshone County and lies 932 miles [1,499.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Gem that is located in Thomas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shoshone County community of Gem.
    • Indiana
      • Hancock County
      • This Gem is located in Hancock County and lies 797 miles [1,282.6 km]<2> to the east of the Gem that is located in Thomas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Gem.
    • Michigan
      • Ontonagon County
      • This Gem is located in Ontonagon County and lies 769 miles [1,237.6 km]<2> to the northeast of the Gem that is located in Thomas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ontonagon County community of Gem.
    • North Carolina
      • Buncombe 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 North Carolina community of Gem [Buncombe County].
    • Ohio
      • Noble County
      • This Gem is located in Noble County and lies 1,034 miles [1,664.1 km]<2> to the east of the Gem that is located in Thomas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Noble County community of Gem.
    • Oregon
      • Klamath County
      • This Gem is located in Klamath County and lies 1,101 miles [1,771.9 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Gem that is located in Thomas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Klamath County community of Gem.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Fulton 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 Pennsylvania community of Gem [Fulton County].
    • South Dakota
      • Brown 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 South Dakota community of Gem [Brown County].
    • Texas
      • Hemphill County
      • This Gem is located in Hemphill County and lies 254 miles [408.8 km]<2> to the south of the Gem that is located in Thomas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hemphill County community of Gem.
    • West Virginia
      • Braxton County
      • This Gem is located in Braxton County and lies 1,082 miles [1,741.3 km]<2> to the east of the Gem that is located in Thomas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Braxton County community of Gem.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gem ...

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.

  • Leoville
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Leoville is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoville
  • Mingo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Mingo is located in Thomas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo
  • Monument
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Monument is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument
  • Page City
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Page City is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page City

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

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

  • Colby, which is the Seat of Thomas County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 280 miles [450.6 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Gem to Topeka, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,274 miles [2,050.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 73 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,766 miles [10,888.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,522 miles [12,105.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,432 miles [8,742 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Gem 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gem) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Gem 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 Gem. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4260, Longitude: -100.8972       In this case, the coordinates for Gem have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 323.496 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 321.458 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.823 degrees.