Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rankin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rankin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rankin
- 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 Rankin:
- 42.914472, -83.750511
- 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 Rankin
- 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 Genesee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Genesee County
- Since Rankin is near Oakland County and also Shiawassee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Oakland County
- eBird sighting report for Shiawassee 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 Rankin ...
We found 25 communities that share the name Rankin.
There is one other community in Michigan which is also named Rankin.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another 24 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 24 communities, 24 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Michigan ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Little River County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Rankin [Little River County].
- Perry County
- This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Rankin [Perry County].
- California
- Illinois
- Saint Clair 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 Illinois community of Rankin [Saint Clair County].
- Vermilion County
- This Rankin is located in Vermilion County and lies 272 miles [437.7 km]<2> to the southwest of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vermilion County community of Rankin.
- Kentucky
- Clark 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 Kentucky community of Rankin [Clark County].
- Henderson County
- This Rankin is located in Henderson County and lies 407 miles [655 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Rankin.
- Wayne County
- This Rankin is located in Wayne County and lies 418 miles [672.7 km] to the south of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Rankin.
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Guilford County
- This Rankin is located in Guilford County and lies 515 miles [828.8 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guilford County community of Rankin.
- Mecklenburg 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 North Carolina community of Rankin [Mecklenburg County].
- Pender County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Rankin [Pender County].
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Rankin lies 345 miles [555.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Cocke County
- This Rankin is located in Cocke County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<2> to the south of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cocke County community of Rankin.
- Maury County
- This Rankin is located in Maury County and lies 535 miles [861 km] to the south southwest of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maury County community of Rankin.
- Texas
- Ellis County
- This Rankin is located in Ellis County and lies 1,022 miles [1,644.7 km]<2> to the southwest of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ellis County community of Rankin.
- Hidalgo County
- This Rankin is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,401 miles [2,254.7 km] to the southwest of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of Rankin.
- Upton County
- This Rankin is located in Upton County and lies 1,281 miles [2,061.6 km] to the west southwest of the Rankin that is located in Genesee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Upton County community of Rankin.
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rankin ...
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.
- Atlas
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Deer Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
- Deer Creek is located in Livingston County
- Five Points
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Oakland County
- Flint
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
- Flint is located in Genesee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 94,968 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flint <5>
- Flushing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flushing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flushing
- Flushing is located in Genesee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,840 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flushing <5>
- Groveland Corners
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groveland Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland Corners
- Groveland Corners is located in Oakland County
- Holly
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly
- Holly is located in Oakland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,079 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holly <5>
- Rose Corners
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Corners
- Rose Corners is located in Oakland County
- Union Plains
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Plains
- Union Plains is located in Shiawassee County
How Far From Rankin 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 community such as Rankin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rankin and extending to:
- Flint, which is the Seat of Genesee County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Rankin to Lansing, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 446 miles [717.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,989 miles [9,638.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,723 miles [10,819.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,604 miles [7,409.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rankin. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Genesee County: www.co.genesee.mi.us/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Rankin 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 '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- Rankin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rankin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9145, Longitude: -83.7505 In this case, the coordinates for Rankin 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 Rankin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Rankin 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 311.857 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.551 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.318 degrees. |