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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mattson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mattson 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 Mattson:
    • 48.689470, -97.073741
    • 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 Mattson
  • 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 Kittson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kittson County
    • Since Mattson is near Pembina County and also Walsh County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pembina County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Walsh 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 Mattson

Communities Also Named Mattson ...

We found two communities that are also named Mattson.

Within Minnesota, the name Mattson is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Coahoma County
      • This Mattson is located in Coahoma County and lies 1,062 miles [1,709.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Mattson that is located in Kittson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coahoma County community of Mattson.
    • Texas
      • Haskell County
      • This Mattson is located in Haskell County and lies 1,073 miles [1,726.8 km]<1> to the south of the Mattson that is located in Kittson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Haskell County community of Mattson.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mattson ...

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.

  • Deerwood
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Deerwood is located in Kittson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
  • Fleece
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Fleece is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleece
  • Humboldt
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Kennedy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Orleans
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Orleans is located in Kittson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
  • Robbin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Robbin is located in Kittson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbin
  • Sultan
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Sultan is located in Kittson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sultan
  • Valley Court
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Valley Court is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Court

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

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

  • Hallock, which is the Seat of Kittson County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 319 miles [513.4 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Mattson to Saint Paul, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 19 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,200 miles [1,931.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 69 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,143 miles [9,886.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,907 miles [11,115.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,852 miles [7,808.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mattson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Mattson 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 Mattson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.6895, Longitude: -97.0737       In this case, the coordinates for Mattson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.041 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.762 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.825 degrees.