Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Francisco, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Francisco and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Francisco
- 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 Francisco:
- 42.277258, -84.140507
- 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 Francisco
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Francisco is near Washtenaw County and also Livingston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washtenaw County
- eBird sighting report for Livingston 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 Francisco ...
We found four communities that share the name Francisco.
Within Michigan, the name Francisco is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Indiana
- North Carolina
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Francisco ...
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.
- Fishville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
- Fishville is located in Jackson County
- Fourmile Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fourmile Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmile Lake
- Fourmile Lake is located in Washtenaw County
- Fourmile Lake has also been known as:
- Four Mile Lake
- Grass Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grass Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Lake
- Grass Lake is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,140 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grass Lake <4>
- Jerusalem
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Lanewood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Michigan Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Michigan Center. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Center
- Michigan Center is located in Jackson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Michigan Center <4>
- Napoleon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Napoleon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
- Napoleon is located in Jackson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napoleon <4>
- Rogers Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rogers Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers Corner
- Rogers Corner is located in Washtenaw County
- Roots
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Francisco 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 Francisco to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Francisco and extending to:
- Jackson, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Francisco to Jackson, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 37 miles [59.5 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 439 miles [706.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 25 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,033 miles [9,709.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,766 miles [10,888.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,646 miles [7,477 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Francisco. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jackson County: www.co.jackson.mi.us/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Francisco) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Francisco. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2773, Longitude: -84.1405 In this case, the coordinates for Francisco 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 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 Francisco 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <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 Francisco 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 312.135 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.772 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.727 degrees. |