RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Vista:
    • 43.956925, -93.466590
    • 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 Vista
  • 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 Vista ...

We found nineteen communities that share the name Vista.

Within Minnesota, the name Vista is unique.

Beyond Minnesota, we know of another nineteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nineteen communities, eighteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Diego County
      • This Vista is located in San Diego County and lies 1,474 miles [2,372.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of Vista.
    • Florida
      • Levy County
      • This Vista is located in Levy County and lies 1,158 miles [1,863.6 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Levy County community of Vista.
    • Iowa
      • Buchanan County
      • This Vista is located in Buchanan County and lies 130 miles [209.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buchanan County community of Vista.
    • Manitoba
      • This Vista lies 571 miles [918.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
    • Michigan
      • Dickinson 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 Michigan community of Vista [Dickinson County].
    • Missouri
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Vista is located in Saint Clair County and lies 412 miles [663 km]<1> to the south of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Vista.
    • Montana
      • Flathead County
      • This Vista is located in Flathead County and lies 1,043 miles [1,678.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Flathead County community of Vista.
      • Lewis and Clark County
      • This Vista is located in Lewis and Clark County and lies 899 miles [1,446.8 km] to the west northwest of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis and Clark County community of Vista.
    • Nevada
      • Washoe County
      • This Vista is located in Washoe County and lies 1,379 miles [2,219.3 km]<1> to the west of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washoe County community of Vista.
    • New Mexico
      • Grant County
      • This Vista is located in Grant County and lies 1,158 miles [1,863.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Vista.
    • New York
      • Westchester County
      • This Vista is located in Westchester County and lies 1,029 miles [1,656 km]<1> to the east of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westchester County community of Vista.
    • North Carolina
      • Pender 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 North Carolina community of Vista [Pender County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Pottawatomie 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 Oklahoma community of Vista [Pottawatomie County].
    • Oregon
      • Marion 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 Oregon community of Vista [Marion County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Westmoreland County
      • This Vista is located in Westmoreland County and lies 743 miles [1,195.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Vista.
    • Texas
      • Hamilton County
      • This Vista is located in Hamilton County and lies 896 miles [1,442 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Vista.
    • Utah
      • Grand County
      • This Vista is located in Grand County and lies 904 miles [1,454.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grand County community of Vista.
    • Washington
      • Benton County
      • This Vista is located in Benton County and lies 1,259 miles [2,026.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vista that is located in Waseca County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Vista.
    • West Virginia
      • Raleigh 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 West Virginia community of Vista [Raleigh County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vista ...

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.

  • Bath
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
    • Bath is located in Freeborn County
  • Colony Court
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colony Court have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Court
    • Colony Court is located in Waseca County
  • Ellendale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellendale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
    • Ellendale is located in Steele County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 669 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ellendale <4>
  • Freeborn
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Geneva
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geneva have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
    • Geneva is located in Freeborn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 537 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geneva <4>
  • Hartland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
    • Hartland is located in Freeborn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
  • Hope
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
    • Hope is located in Steele County
  • River Point
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Point
    • River Point is located in Steele County

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

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

  • Waseca, which is the Seat of Waseca County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Vista to Saint Paul, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 4 days. 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 917 miles [1,475.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 53 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,282 miles [10,109.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,035 miles [11,321.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,939 miles [7,948.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vista. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Waseca County: www.co.waseca.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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vista) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vista. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9569, Longitude: -93.4666    
<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 Vista 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 Vista 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 318.431 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.178 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.013 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024