Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in North Star, we use the following websites to find information relevant to North Star and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for North Star
- 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 North Star:
- 44.290522, -94.079405
- 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 North Star
- 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 Nicollet County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Nicollet County
- Since North Star is near Le Sueur County and also Blue Earth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Le Sueur County
- eBird sighting report for Blue Earth 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 North Star ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name North Star.
There is one other community in Minnesota which is also named North Star.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, eleven are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Minnesota ...
- Martin County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of North Star [Martin County].
- Martin County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This North Star lies 1,336 miles [2,150.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the North Star that is located in Nicollet County.
- British Columbia
- This North Star lies 1,080 miles [1,738.1 km]<2> to the west northwest of the North Star that is located in Nicollet County.
- California
- Yuba County
- This North Star is located in Yuba County and lies 1,417 miles [2,280.4 km]<2> to the west of the North Star that is located in Nicollet County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yuba County community of North Star.
- Colorado
- Gunnison County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Gunnison County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gunnison County community of North Star.
- Delaware
- New Castle County
- This North Star is located in New Castle County and lies 989 miles [1,591.6 km]<2> to the east southeast of the North Star that is located in Nicollet County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Castle County community of North Star.
- Manitoba
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- Michigan
- Gratiot County
- This North Star is located in Gratiot County and lies 480 miles [772.5 km]<2> to the east of the North Star that is located in Nicollet County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gratiot County community of North Star.
- Nebraska
- Nance County
- This North Star is located in Nance County and lies 287 miles [461.9 km]<2> to the southwest of the North Star that is located in Nicollet County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nance County community of North Star.
- Ohio
- Darke County
- This North Star is located in Darke County and lies 557 miles [896.4 km]<2> to the east southeast of the North Star that is located in Nicollet County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Darke County community of North Star.
- Pennsylvania
- Allegheny County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of North Star [Allegheny County].
- Texas
- Archer County
- Although located in Archer County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Archer County community of North Star.
- Wisconsin
- Crawford County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of North Star [Crawford County].
- Portage County
- This North Star is located in Portage County and lies 230 miles [370.1 km]<2> to the east of the North Star that is located in Nicollet County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portage County community of North Star.
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near North Star ...
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.
- Eagle Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
- Eagle Lake is located in Blue Earth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,123 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Lake <5>
- Lake Crystal
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Crystal
- Lake Crystal is located in Blue Earth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,512 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Crystal <5>
- Marysburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east) - New Sweden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Sweden. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sweden
- New Sweden is located in Nicollet County
- Norseland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Poor Farm Landing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poor Farm Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poor Farm Landing
- Poor Farm Landing is located in Nicollet County
- Rush River
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rush River have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush River
- Rush River is located in Sibley County
- Skyline
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Traverse
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
How Far From North Star 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 North Star to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in North Star and extending to:
- Saint Peter, which is the Seat of Nicollet County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 66 miles [106.2 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from North Star to Saint Paul, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 953 miles [1,533.7 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 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,284 miles [10,113.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,039 miles [11,328.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,947 miles [7,961.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for North Star. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Nicollet County: www.co.nicollet.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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 North Star 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- North Star) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in North Star. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2905, Longitude: -94.0794 In this case, the coordinates for North Star have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 North Star, 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> | 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. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 North Star to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.868 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.72 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.26 degrees. |