Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dawson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dawson and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dawson
- 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 Dawson:
- 44.928788, -96.048761
- 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 Dawson
- 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 Lac qui Parle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lac qui Parle County
- Since Dawson is near Chippewa County and also Yellow Medicine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Chippewa County
- eBird sighting report for Yellow Medicine 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 Dawson ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Dawson.
Within Minnesota, the name Dawson is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another 28 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 28 communities, 26 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Manitoba
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nodaway 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 Missouri community of Dawson [Nodaway County].
- Wright County
- This Dawson is located in Wright County and lies 564 miles [907.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Dawson that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wright County community of Dawson.
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Beaver County
- This Dawson is located in Beaver County and lies 842 miles [1,355.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Dawson that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaver County community of Dawson.
- Cambria 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 Pennsylvania community of Dawson [Cambria County].
- Fayette County
- This Dawson is located in Fayette County and lies 898 miles [1,445.2 km] to the east southeast of the Dawson that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Dawson.
- Forest 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 Pennsylvania community of Dawson [Forest County].
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Yukon
- This Dawson lies 2,117 miles [3,407 km]<1> to the northwest of the Dawson that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dawson ...
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.
- Burr
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest) - Gary
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gary have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
- Gary is located in Deuel County (SD)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <5>
- Granite Falls
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Falls
- Granite Falls is located in Yellow Medicine County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,670 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granite Falls <5>
- Hazel Run
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast) - Louisburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north) - Providence
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Spring Creek
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Spring Creek is located in Yellow Medicine County
- Valley Courts
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Courts have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Courts
- Valley Courts is located in Yellow Medicine County
How Far From Dawson 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 city such as Dawson to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dawson and extending to:
- Madison, which is the Seat of Lac qui Parle County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 144 miles [231.7 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Dawson to Saint Paul, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,058 miles [1,702.7 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,314 miles [10,161.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,072 miles [11,381.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,990 miles [8,030.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Dawson: www.dawsonmn.com/
The official website for Lac qui Parle County: www.ci.madison.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.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 from Point A (ie- Dawson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dawson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.9288, Longitude: -96.0488 In this case, the coordinates for Dawson 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 Dawson 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> | 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 Dawson, 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 Dawson 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 320.282 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.42 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.184 degrees. |