Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Paynesville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Paynesville and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Paynesville
- 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 Paynesville:
- 45.376689, -94.724329
- 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 Paynesville
- 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 Stearns County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Stearns County
- Since Paynesville is near Kandiyohi County and also Meeker County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kandiyohi County
- eBird sighting report for Meeker 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 Paynesville ...
We found seven communities that share the name Paynesville.
Within Minnesota, the name Paynesville is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Alpine County
- This Paynesville is located in Alpine County and lies 1,354 miles [2,179.1 km]<1> to the west of the Paynesville that is located in Stearns County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alpine County community of Paynesville.
- Indiana
- Jefferson County
- This Paynesville is located in Jefferson County and lies 663 miles [1,067 km]<1> to the southeast of the Paynesville that is located in Stearns County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Paynesville.
- Michigan
- Ontonagon County
- This Paynesville is located in Ontonagon County and lies 280 miles [450.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Paynesville that is located in Stearns County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ontonagon County community of Paynesville.
- Missouri
- Pike County
- This Paynesville is located in Pike County and lies 465 miles [748.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Paynesville that is located in Stearns County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Paynesville.
- New York
- Allegany County
- This Paynesville is located in Allegany County and lies 872 miles [1,403.3 km]<1> to the east of the Paynesville that is located in Stearns County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegany County community of Paynesville.
- West Virginia
- McDowell County
- This Paynesville is located in McDowell County and lies 864 miles [1,390.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Paynesville that is located in Stearns County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McDowell County community of Paynesville.
- Wisconsin
- Milwaukee 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 Wisconsin community of Paynesville [Milwaukee County].
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near Paynesville ...
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.
- Cold Spring
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cold Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
- Cold Spring is located in Stearns County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,350 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cold Spring <4>
- Crow River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crow River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow River
- Crow River is located in Meeker County
- Eden Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Valley
- Eden Valley is located in Meeker County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,038 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden Valley <4>
- Georgeville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgeville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgeville
- Georgeville is located in Stearns County
- Grove City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
- Grove City is located in Meeker County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grove City <4>
- Lake Henry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Henry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Henry
- Lake Henry is located in Stearns County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 113 people
- Regal
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Spicer
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spicer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spicer
- Spicer is located in Kandiyohi County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,224 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spicer <4>
How Far From Paynesville 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 Paynesville to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Paynesville and extending to:
- Saint Cloud, which is the Seat of Stearns County, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Paynesville to Saint Cloud, with an average speed<5> 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 over a day.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 84 miles [135.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,007 miles [1,620.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,248 miles [10,055.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,006 miles [11,275.1 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 ...
The official website for Paynesville: www.paynesvillemn.com/
The official website for Stearns County: www.co.stearns.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 '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- Paynesville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Paynesville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.3767, Longitude: -94.7243 In this case, the coordinates for Paynesville 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 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 Paynesville 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> | 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Paynesville 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 319.336 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.398 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.34 degrees. |