Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Harlan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harlan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Harlan
- 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 Harlan:
- 39.606923, -98.766870
- 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 Harlan
- 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 Smith County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Smith County
- Since Harlan is near Osborne County and also Jewell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Osborne County
- eBird sighting report for Jewell 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 Harlan ...
We found ten communities that share the name Harlan.
There is one other community in Kansas which is also named Harlan.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Kansas ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Harlan ...
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.
- Cedar
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Cheyenne
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south) - Cheyenne Gap
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cheyenne Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheyenne Gap
- Cheyenne Gap is located in Osborne County
- Covert
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south) - Dispatch
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dispatch
- Dispatch is located in Smith County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Dispatch
- From Harlan to Dispatch
- Downs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downs
- Downs is located in Osborne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 818 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Downs <5>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Downs
- From Harlan to Downs
- Glen Elder
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Elder
- Glen Elder is located in Mitchell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 420 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glen Elder <5>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Glen Elder
- From Harlan to Glen Elder
- Reamsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reamsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reamsville
- Reamsville is located in Smith County
How Far From Harlan 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 Harlan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Harlan and extending to:
- Smith Center, which is the Seat of Smith County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Harlan to Smith Center, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 169 miles [272 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,160 miles [1,866.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 66 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,687 miles [10,761.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,441 miles [11,975.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,344 miles [8,600.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Harlan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/
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 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 Harlan 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- Harlan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harlan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6069, Longitude: -98.7669 |
| <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 Harlan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Harlan 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 321.984 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.72 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.687 degrees. |