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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hatmaker, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hatmaker and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Hatmaker:
    • 41.849468, -85.121488
    • 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 Hatmaker
  • 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 Hatmaker is near LaGrange County and also Steuben County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for LaGrange County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Steuben 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 Hatmaker

Communities Also Named Hatmaker ...

We found one communities that are also named Hatmaker.

Within Michigan, the name Hatmaker is unique.

Beyond Michigan, there is another community also named Hatmaker in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Tennessee
      • Campbell County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Hatmaker [Campbell County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hatmaker ...

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 Hatmaker 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 Hatmaker to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Hatmaker and extending to:

  • Coldwater, which is the Seat of Branch County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 67 miles [107.8 km]<3> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Hatmaker to Lansing, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full 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 471 miles [758 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,090 miles [9,800.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,824 miles [10,982.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,704 miles [7,570.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Hatmaker, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Hatmaker) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Hatmaker 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 Hatmaker. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8495, Longitude: -85.1215       In this case, the coordinates for Hatmaker have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.785 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.448 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.344 degrees.