RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Midland County >> Averill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Averill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Averill 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 Averill:
    • 43.664908, -84.341877
    • 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 Averill
  • 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 Midland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Midland County
    • Since Averill is near Bay County and also Gladwin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bay County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gladwin 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 Averill

Communities Also Named Averill ...

We found four communities that are also named Averill.

Within Michigan, the name Averill is unique.

Beyond Michigan, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Brevard 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 Florida community of Averill [Brevard County].
    • Minnesota
      • Clay County
      • This Averill is located in Clay County and lies 634 miles [1,020.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Averill that is located in Midland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Averill.
    • South Carolina
      • Allendale County
      • This Averill is located in Allendale County and lies 747 miles [1,202.2 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Averill that is located in Midland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allendale County community of Averill.
    • Vermont
      • Essex County
      • This Averill is located in Essex County and lies 629 miles [1,012.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Averill that is located in Midland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Essex County community of Averill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Averill ...

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.

  • Bombay
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bombay is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bombay
  • Bullock Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bullock Creek is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullock Creek
  • Dean
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Dean is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
  • Dice Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Dice Corners is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dice Corners
  • Edenville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Edenville is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edenville
  • Floyd
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Floyd is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floyd
  • Francis Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Francis Grove is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis Grove
  • Golden
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Golden is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden
  • Gordonville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Gordonville is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordonville
  • Hope
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Poseyville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Poseyville is located in Midland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poseyville

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

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

  • Midland, which is the Seat of Midland County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Averill to Lansing, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 501 miles [806.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,976 miles [9,617.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,714 miles [10,805.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,597 miles [7,398.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Averill 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Averill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Averill 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 Averill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.6649, Longitude: -84.3419       In this case, the coordinates for Averill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.213 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.066 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.352 degrees.