Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Franconia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Franconia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Franconia
- 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 Franconia:
- 45.369759, -92.693292
- 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 Franconia
- 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 Chisago County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Chisago County
- Since Franconia is near Polk County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Franconia ...
We found seven communities that share the name Franconia.
Within Minnesota, the name Franconia is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, 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 ...
- Alabama
- Arizona
- New Hampshire
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Franconia ...
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.
- Bonnie Glen
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bonnie Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie Glen
- Bonnie Glen is located in Chisago County
- Branch
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Eureka Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Center
- Eureka Center is located in Polk County (WI)
- Forest Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
- Forest Lake is located in Washington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21,285 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forest Lake <5>
- Horse Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Creek
- Horse Creek is located in Polk County (WI)
- Little Falls
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Falls
- Little Falls is located in Polk County (WI)
- Maple Island
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Island have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Island
- Maple Island is located in Washington County
- Milltown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Sand Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Stacy
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacy
- Stacy is located in Chisago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,525 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stacy <5>
- Star Prairie
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Prairie
- Star Prairie is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
- Sunrise
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Wolf Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek
- Wolf Creek is located in Polk County (WI)
- Wyoming
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyoming have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
- Wyoming is located in Chisago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,084 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wyoming <5>
How Far From Franconia 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 Franconia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Franconia and extending to:
- Center City, which is the Seat of Chisago County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 34 miles [54.7 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Franconia to Saint Paul, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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 915 miles [1,472.5 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,184 miles [9,952.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,938 miles [11,165.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,847 miles [7,800.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Franconia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Chisago County: www.co.chisago.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Franconia 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Franconia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Franconia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.3698, Longitude: -92.6933 |
| <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 Franconia, 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 Franconia 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 317.89 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.75 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.222 degrees. |