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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Springport, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Springport 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 Springport:
    • 42.378311, -84.698975
    • 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 Springport
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Springport is near Calhoun County and also Eaton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Eaton 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 Springport

Communities Also Named Springport ...

We found four communities that are also named Springport.

There is one other community in Michigan that is also named Springport.

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

  • Communities Located In Michigan ...
    • Alcona County
      • This Springport is located in Alcona County and lies 170 miles [273.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Springport that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alcona County community of Springport.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Indiana
      • Henry County
      • This Springport is located in Henry County and lies 164 miles [263.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Springport that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Springport.
    • Kentucky
      • Henry County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Springport [Henry County].
    • New York
      • Cayuga County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Springport [Cayuga County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Springport ...

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

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

  • Jackson, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Springport to Jackson, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 25 miles [40.2 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 467 miles [751.6 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 6,049 miles [9,734.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,784 miles [10,917.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,665 miles [7,507.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 from Point A (ie- Springport) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Springport 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Springport 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 Springport. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3783, Longitude: -84.6990    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.496 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.196 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.967 degrees.