Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Willis, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Willis and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Willis
- 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 Willis:
- 39.724547, -95.506034
- 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 Willis
- 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 Brown County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Brown County
- Since Willis is near Atchison County and also Doniphan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Atchison County
- eBird sighting report for Doniphan 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 Willis ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Willis.
Within Kansas, the name Willis is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Benzie County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Willis [Benzie County].
- Washtenaw County
- This Willis is located in Washtenaw County and lies 644 miles [1,036.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Willis that is located in Brown County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washtenaw County community of Willis.
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Beaverhead County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Willis [Beaverhead County].
- Missoula 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 Montana community of Willis [Missoula County].
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Hancock County
- This Willis is located in Hancock County and lies 711 miles [1,144.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Willis that is located in Brown County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Willis.
- Haywood County
- This Willis is located in Haywood County and lies 449 miles [722.6 km] to the southeast of the Willis that is located in Brown County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Haywood County community of Willis.
- Lawrence County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Willis [Lawrence County].
- Texas
- Virginia
- Floyd County
- This Willis is located in Floyd County and lies 836 miles [1,345.4 km]<1> to the east of the Willis that is located in Brown County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Willis.
- Russell County
- This Willis is located in Russell County and lies 751 miles [1,208.6 km] to the east of the Willis that is located in Brown County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Russell County community of Willis.
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Willis ...
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.
- Carbon ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south) - Fidelity
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west) - Goodintent ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goodintent have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodintent
- Goodintent is located in Atchison County
- Granada
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granada
- Granada is located in Nemaha County
- Granada has also been known as:
- Pleasant Point
- Pleasant Spring
- Hiawatha
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiawatha
- Hiawatha is located in Brown County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,091 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hiawatha <5>
- Highland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Highland is located in Doniphan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 986 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Highland <5>
- Reserve
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reserve
- Reserve is located in Brown County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
- Severance
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Severance
- Severance is located in Doniphan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Sun Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Springs
- Sun Springs is located in Brown County
How Far From Willis 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 city such as Willis to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Willis and extending to:
- Hiawatha, which is the Seat of Brown County, lies just to the North.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Willis to Topeka, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 986 miles [1,586.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 56 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,571 miles [10,575 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,319 miles [11,778.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,213 miles [8,389.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Willis. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Brown County: www.brown.kansasgov.com/
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 from Point A (ie- Willis) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Willis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7245, Longitude: -95.5060 |
| <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 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 Willis 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 Willis, 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 Willis 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 319.705 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.092 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.004 degrees. |