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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Freda, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Freda 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 Freda:
    • 47.135482, -88.819681
    • 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 Freda
  • 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 Houghton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Houghton County
    • Since Freda is near Keweenaw County and also Baraga County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Keweenaw County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baraga 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 Freda

Communities Also Named Freda ...

We found two communities that are also named Freda.

Within Michigan, the name Freda is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Bernardino County
      • This Freda is located in San Bernardino County and lies 1,624 miles [2,613.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Freda that is located in Houghton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Freda.
    • North Dakota
      • Grant County
      • This Freda is located in Grant County and lies 586 miles [943.1 km]<1> to the west of the Freda that is located in Houghton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Freda.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Freda ...

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 Freda to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Freda to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Houghton, which is the Seat of Houghton County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Freda to Houghton, with an average speed<3> 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 368 miles [592.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 821 miles [1,321.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,968 miles [9,604.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,721 miles [10,816.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,627 miles [7,446.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Freda) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Freda 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 Freda. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.1355, Longitude: -88.8197    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.116 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.856 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.543 degrees.