RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Big Stone County >> Artichoke >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Artichoke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Artichoke 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 Artichoke:
    • 45.399130, -96.157554
    • 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 Artichoke
  • 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 Big Stone County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Big Stone County
    • Since Artichoke is near Swift County and also Stevens County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Swift County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stevens 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 Artichoke

Curious and Interesting Names Near Artichoke ...

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.

  • Alberta
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Alberta is located in Stevens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
  • Barry
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Barry is located in Big Stone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
  • Big Stone City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Big Stone Colony
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Stone Colony is located in Big Stone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Stone Colony
  • Cashtown
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Cashtown is located in Big Stone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashtown
  • Graceville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Louisburg
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Louisburg is located in Lac qui Parle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
  • Shady Beach
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Shady Beach is located in Roberts County (SD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Beach

How Far From Artichoke 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 Artichoke to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Artichoke and extending to:

  • Ortonville, which is the Seat of Big Stone County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Artichoke to Ortonville, with an average speed<3> 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 four to five hours.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 152 miles [244.6 km] to the east (E). 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 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,073 miles [1,726.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 61 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,292 miles [10,126 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,051 miles [11,347.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,972 miles [8,001.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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- Artichoke) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Artichoke 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 Artichoke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.3991, Longitude: -96.1576       In this case, the coordinates for Artichoke have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.368 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.577 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.133 degrees.