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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bronson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bronson 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 Bronson:
    • 41.872350, -85.194667
    • 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 Bronson
  • 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 Branch County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Branch County
    • Since Bronson is near Saint Joseph County and also LaGrange County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Joseph County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for LaGrange 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 Bronson

Communities Also Named Bronson ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Bronson.

Within Michigan, the name Bronson is unique.

Beyond Michigan, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, nine are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Levy County
      • This Bronson is located in Levy County and lies 869 miles [1,398.5 km]<1> to the south of the Bronson that is located in Branch County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Levy County community of Bronson.
    • Illinois
      • Vermilion County
      • This Bronson is located in Vermilion County and lies 182 miles [292.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Bronson that is located in Branch County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vermilion County community of Bronson.
    • Indiana
      • Randolph 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 Indiana community of Bronson [Randolph County].
    • Iowa
      • Woodbury County
      • This Bronson is located in Woodbury County and lies 564 miles [907.7 km]<1> to the west of the Bronson that is located in Branch County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodbury County community of Bronson.
    • Kansas
      • Bourbon County
      • This Bronson is located in Bourbon County and lies 590 miles [949.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Bronson that is located in Branch County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bourbon County community of Bronson.
    • Louisiana
      • Iberia Parish
      • This Bronson is located in Iberia Parish and lies 892 miles [1,435.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Bronson that is located in Branch County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iberia Parish community of Bronson.
    • Nebraska
      • Cheyenne 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 Nebraska community of Bronson [Cheyenne County].
    • New Brunswick
      • This Bronson lies 1,007 miles [1,620.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bronson that is located in Branch County.
    • Ohio
      • Huron County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Huron County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Huron County community of Bronson.
    • Ontario
      • This Bronson lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bronson that is located in Branch County.
    • Texas
      • Sabine County
      • This Bronson is located in Sabine County and lies 874 miles [1,406.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Bronson that is located in Branch County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sabine County community of Bronson.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bronson ...

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.

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

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

  • Coldwater, which is the Seat of Branch County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bronson to Coldwater, with an average speed<5> 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.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 475 miles [764.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,092 miles [9,804.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,826 miles [10,985.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,706 miles [7,573.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bronson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Bronson 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 Bronson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Bronson 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 Bronson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8723, Longitude: -85.1947    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.833 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.505 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.373 degrees.