Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sylvester, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sylvester and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sylvester
- 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 Sylvester:
- 43.539751, -85.254477
- 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 Sylvester
- 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 Mecosta County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mecosta County
- Since Sylvester is near Montcalm County and also Isabella County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Montcalm County
- eBird sighting report for Isabella 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 Sylvester ...
We found seven communities that share the name Sylvester.
Within Michigan, the name Sylvester is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- North Carolina
- Nova Scotia
- This Sylvester lies 1,111 miles [1,788 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Sylvester that is located in Mecosta County.
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sylvester ...
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.
- Canadian Lakes
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadian Lakes
- Canadian Lakes is located in Mecosta County
- Coral
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coral
- Coral is located in Montcalm County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coral <3>
- Drew
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Halls Corner
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Corner
- Halls Corner is located in Mecosta County
- Howard City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howard City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard City
- Howard City is located in Montcalm County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,819 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Howard City <3>
- Lakeview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Lakeview is located in Montcalm County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 994 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lakeview <3>
- Rustford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Six Lakes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Lakes
- Six Lakes is located in Montcalm County
- Six Lakes has also been known as:
- Six Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Six Lakes <3>
How Far From Sylvester 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 Sylvester to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sylvester and extending to:
- Big Rapids, which is the Seat of Mecosta County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sylvester to Big Rapids, with an average speed<5> 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 65 miles [104.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 533 miles [857.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,016 miles [9,681.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,755 miles [10,871.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,639 miles [7,465.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sylvester. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Mecosta County: www.co.mecosta.mi.us/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sylvester) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sylvester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5398, Longitude: -85.2545 In this case, the coordinates for Sylvester have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Sylvester 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> | 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 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. |
| <6> | 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 Sylvester to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.822 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.738 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.856 degrees. |