Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rockford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rockford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rockford
- 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 Rockford:
- 37.758376, -95.050253
- 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 Rockford
- 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 Bourbon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Bourbon County
- Since Rockford is near Allen County and also Neosho County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Allen County
- eBird sighting report for Neosho 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 Rockford ...
We found 26 communities that share the name Rockford.
Within Kansas, the name Rockford is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another 26 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 26 communities, 24 are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Jackson County
- This Rockford is located in Jackson County and lies 502 miles [807.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rockford that is located in Bourbon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Rockford.
- Wells County
- This Rockford is located in Wells County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km] to the east northeast of the Rockford that is located in Bourbon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wells County community of Rockford.
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Carroll County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Carroll County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Rockford.
- Cass County
- This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Rockford [Cass County].
- Chariton County
- This Rockford is located in Chariton County and lies 159 miles [255.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rockford that is located in Bourbon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chariton County community of Rockford.
- Montana
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Mercer County
- This Rockford is located in Mercer County and lies 591 miles [951.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rockford that is located in Bourbon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Rockford.
- Tuscarawas County
- This Rockford is located in Tuscarawas County and lies 758 miles [1,219.9 km] to the east northeast of the Rockford that is located in Bourbon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of Rockford.
- Ontario
- This Rockford lies 868 miles [1,396.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rockford that is located in Bourbon County.
- Oregon
- Saskatchewan
- This Rockford lies 1,060 miles [1,705.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Rockford that is located in Bourbon County.
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rockford ...
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.
- Berlin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Erie
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erie have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
- Erie is located in Neosho County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <6>
- Greenbush
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
- Greenbush is located in Crawford County
- Porterville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Porterville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterville
- Porterville is located in Bourbon County
- Redfield
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfield
- Redfield is located in Bourbon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Ronald
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east) - Stark
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Uniontown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Walnut
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
- Walnut is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
How Far From Rockford to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Rockford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Rockford once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Rockford and extending to:
- Fort Scott, which is the Seat of Bourbon County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rockford to Fort Scott, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 95 miles [152.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 977 miles [1,572.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 56 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,658 miles [10,715 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,401 miles [11,910.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,288 miles [8,510.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Bourbon County: www.bourboncountyks.org/
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rockford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rockford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7584, Longitude: -95.0503 In this case, the coordinates for Rockford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rockford 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. |
| <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 Rockford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Rockford to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.263 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.327 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.136 degrees. |