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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pickwick, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pickwick and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Pickwick:
    • 43.981630, -91.494588
    • 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 Pickwick
  • 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 Winona County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Winona County
    • Since Pickwick is near Trempealeau County and also Buffalo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Trempealeau County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buffalo 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 Pickwick

Communities Also Named Pickwick ...

We found eight communities that are also named Pickwick.

Within Minnesota, the name Pickwick is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Wapello County
      • This Pickwick is located in Wapello County and lies 210 miles [338 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Pickwick that is located in Winona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wapello County community of Pickwick.
    • Kansas
      • Greeley 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 Kansas community of Pickwick [Greeley County].
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Pickwick is located in Baltimore County and lies 825 miles [1,327.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Pickwick that is located in Winona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Pickwick.
    • Mississippi
      • Marion County
      • This Pickwick is located in Marion County and lies 891 miles [1,433.9 km]<1> to the south of the Pickwick that is located in Winona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Pickwick.
    • Oklahoma
      • Bryan County
      • This Pickwick is located in Bryan County and lies 748 miles [1,203.8 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Pickwick that is located in Winona County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bryan County community of Pickwick.
    • Tennessee
      • Hardin 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 Tennessee community of Pickwick [Hardin County].
    • Texas
      • Palo Pinto 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 Texas community of Pickwick [Palo Pinto County].
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax 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 Virginia community of Pickwick [Fairfax County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pickwick ...

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.

  • Centerville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Centerville is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Council Bay
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Council Bay is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council Bay
  • Dakota
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Dakota is located in Winona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
  • Dodge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Dodge is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge
  • Galesville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Galesville is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galesville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
  • Homer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Homer is located in Winona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
  • Marshland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Marshland is located in Buffalo County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshland
  • Pine Creek ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Pine Creek is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
  • Sugarloaf
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sugarloaf is located in Winona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf
  • Sunset Point ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunset Point is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Point

How Far From Pickwick to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Pickwick to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Winona, which is the Seat of Winona County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Pickwick to Winona, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 103 miles [165.8 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 825 miles [1,327.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,214 miles [10,000.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,965 miles [11,209.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,864 miles [7,827.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pickwick) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Pickwick 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>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 Pickwick 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 Pickwick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9816, Longitude: -91.4946       In this case, the coordinates for Pickwick have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.053 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.609 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.955 degrees.