RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Rice County >> Comus >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Comus:
    • 44.384964, -93.257439
    • 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 Comus
  • 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 Rice County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rice County
    • Since Comus is near Dakota County and also Goodhue County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dakota County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Goodhue 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 Comus

Communities Also Named Comus ...

We found three communities that are also named Comus.

Within Minnesota, the name Comus is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Montgomery County
      • This Comus is located in Montgomery County and lies 890 miles [1,432.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Comus that is located in Rice County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Comus.
    • Michigan
      • Menominee County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Menominee County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menominee County community of Comus.
    • Nevada
      • Humboldt County
      • This Comus is located in Humboldt County and lies 1,239 miles [1,994 km]<1> to the west of the Comus that is located in Rice County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humboldt County community of Comus.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Comus ...

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.

  • Cannon City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cannon City is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon City
  • Castle Rock
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
  • Cedar Lake
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Lake is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
  • Eureka Center
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Eureka Center is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Center
  • Little Chicago
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Little Chicago is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Chicago
  • Prairieville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Prairieville is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
  • Randolph
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Randolph is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
  • Shieldsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Shieldsville is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shieldsville
  • Wheatland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Wheatland is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland

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

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

  • Faribault, which is the Seat of Rice County, lies just to the South.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Comus to Saint Paul, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two 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 916 miles [1,474.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,253 miles [10,063.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,006 miles [11,275.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,912 miles [7,905.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Comus) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Comus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Comus 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 Comus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3850, Longitude: -93.2574       In this case, the coordinates for Comus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.288 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.071 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.792 degrees.