RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Houston County >> South Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in South Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Ridge 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 South Ridge:
    • 43.825244, -91.427085
    • 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 South Ridge
  • 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 Houston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Houston County
    • Since South Ridge is near Winona County and also La Crosse County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Winona County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for La Crosse 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 South Ridge

Communities Also Named South Ridge ...

We found seven communities that are also named South Ridge.

Within Minnesota, the name South Ridge is unique.

Beyond Minnesota, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This South Ridge is located in Hillsborough County and lies 1,210 miles [1,947.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the South Ridge that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of South Ridge.
    • Georgia
      • Douglas County
      • This South Ridge is located in Douglas County and lies 784 miles [1,261.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the South Ridge that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of South Ridge.
    • Kansas
      • Wilson County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of South Ridge [Wilson County].
    • Louisiana
      • Caddo Parish
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of South Ridge [Caddo Parish].
    • New Brunswick
      • This South Ridge lies 1,184 miles [1,905.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the South Ridge that is located in Houston County.
    • Ohio
      • Ashtabula County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of South Ridge [Ashtabula County].
    • Virginia
      • Culpeper County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of South Ridge [Culpeper County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near South Ridge ...

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 Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Cold Springs is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Dakota
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Dakota is located in Winona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
  • French Island
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • French Island is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Island
  • Grand Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Grand Crossing is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Crossing
  • La Crosse
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • La Crosse is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Crosse
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 51,163 people
  • Lakeview ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeview is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Money Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Money Creek is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Money Creek
  • Pine Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Pine Creek is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
  • River Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • River Junction is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
  • Sunset Point ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunset Point is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Point
  • Village Terrace
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Village Terrace is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Terrace

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

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

  • Caledonia, which is the Seat of Houston County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from South Ridge to Caledonia, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 818 miles [1,316.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,220 miles [10,010.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,970 miles [11,217.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,868 miles [7,834.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- South Ridge) 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 South Ridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 South Ridge 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.
<4>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.
<5>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 South Ridge 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 South Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8252, Longitude: -91.4271       In this case, the coordinates for South Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.006 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.534 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.962 degrees.