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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Prairieville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Prairieville 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 Prairieville:
    • 44.283853, -93.192158
    • 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 Prairieville
  • 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 Rice County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rice County
    • Since Prairieville is near Steele County and also Goodhue County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Steele County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Goodhue 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 Prairieville

Communities Also Named Prairieville ...

We found seven communities that are also named Prairieville.

Within Minnesota, the name Prairieville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Hale County
      • This Prairieville is located in Hale County and lies 865 miles [1,392.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Prairieville that is located in Rice County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hale County community of Prairieville.
    • Illinois
      • Lee County
      • This Prairieville is located in Lee County and lies 247 miles [397.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Prairieville that is located in Rice County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Prairieville.
    • Louisiana
      • Ascension Parish
      • This Prairieville is located in Ascension Parish and lies 972 miles [1,564.3 km]<1> to the south of the Prairieville that is located in Rice County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ascension Parish community of Prairieville.
    • Michigan
      • Barry County
      • This Prairieville is located in Barry County and lies 406 miles [653.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Prairieville that is located in Rice County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barry County community of Prairieville.
    • Missouri
      • Pike County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Pike County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Prairieville.
    • Ohio
      • Erie County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Erie County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Prairieville.
    • Texas
      • Kaufman County
      • This Prairieville is located in Kaufman County and lies 829 miles [1,334.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Prairieville that is located in Rice County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kaufman County community of Prairieville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Prairieville ...

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.

  • Bombay
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Bombay is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bombay
  • Cannon City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cannon City is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon City
  • Castle Rock
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
  • Havana
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Havana is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
  • Little Chicago
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Little Chicago is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Chicago
  • Randolph
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Randolph is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
  • Rice Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Rice Lake is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
  • Rogers
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Rogers is located in Le Sueur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
  • Shieldsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Shieldsville is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shieldsville
  • Skyberg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Skyberg is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyberg
  • Wheatland
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Wheatland is located in Rice County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland

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

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

  • Faribault, which is the Seat of Rice County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 46 miles [74 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Prairieville to Saint Paul, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,256 miles [10,068.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,009 miles [11,279.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,914 miles [7,908.3 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Prairieville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Prairieville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Prairieville 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 Prairieville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2839, Longitude: -93.1922       In this case, the coordinates for Prairieville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.241 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.004 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.782 degrees.