Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Harlan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harlan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Harlan
- 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 Harlan:
- 44.458482, -85.818505
- 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 Harlan
- 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 Manistee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Manistee County
- Since Harlan is near Wexford County and also Benzie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wexford County
- eBird sighting report for Benzie 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 Harlan ...
We found ten communities that share the name Harlan.
Within Michigan, the name Harlan is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Neosho 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 Kansas community of Harlan [Neosho County].
- Smith County
- This Harlan is located in Smith County and lies 742 miles [1,194.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Harlan that is located in Manistee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smith County community of Harlan.
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Harlan ...
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.
- Bear Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Lake
- Bear Lake is located in Manistee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 288 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bear Lake <4>
- Chief Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chief Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chief Lake
- Chief Lake is located in Manistee County
- Chums Corner
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chums Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chums Corner
- Chums Corner is located in Grand Traverse County
- Henry ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Hilltop
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Honor
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Honor have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honor
- Honor is located in Benzie County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Honor <4>
- Malcolm
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west) - Mesick
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mesick have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesick
- Mesick is located in Wexford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesick <4>
- Summit City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit City have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit City
- Summit City is located in Grand Traverse County
How Far From Harlan 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 Harlan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Harlan once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Harlan and extending to:
- Manistee, which is the Seat of Manistee County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Harlan to Manistee, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 134 miles [215.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 593 miles [954.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,993 miles [9,644.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,735 miles [10,838.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,623 miles [7,440 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Manistee County: www.manistee.com/~edo/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
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 Harlan 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Harlan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harlan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.4585, Longitude: -85.8185 In this case, the coordinates for Harlan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Harlan, 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> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Harlan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.164 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.26 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.834 degrees. |