Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Medford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Medford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Medford
- 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 Medford:
- 44.173284, -93.246809
- 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 Medford
- 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 Steele County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Steele County
- Since Medford is near Rice County and also Waseca County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rice County
- eBird sighting report for Waseca 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 Medford ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Medford.
Within Minnesota, the name Medford is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Missouri
- New Brunswick
- This Medford lies 1,245 miles [2,003.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Medford that is located in Steele County.
- New Jersey
- New York
- Nova Scotia
- This Medford lies 1,412 miles [2,272.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Medford that is located in Steele County.
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Medford ...
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
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cannon City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon City
- Cannon City is located in Rice County
- Colony Court
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colony Court have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Court
- Colony Court is located in Waseca County
- Havana
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Havana is located in Steele County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Havana
- From Medford to Havana
- Hope
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Hope is located in Steele County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Hope
- From Medford to Hope
- Prairieville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairieville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Prairieville is located in Rice County
- Rice Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - River Point
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for River Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Point
- River Point is located in Steele County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to River Point
- From Medford to River Point
- Shieldsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shieldsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shieldsville
- Shieldsville is located in Rice County
- Skyberg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
How Far From Medford 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 city such as Medford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Medford and extending to:
- Owatonna, which is the Seat of Steele County, lies just to the South.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 54 miles [86.9 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Medford to Saint Paul, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 911 miles [1,466.1 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,263 miles [10,079.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,017 miles [11,292.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,921 miles [7,919.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Medford. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Steele County: www.co.steele.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Medford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Medford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Medford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1733, Longitude: -93.2468 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Medford to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.279 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.032 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.84 degrees. |