RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for Minnesota





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Albany, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Albany 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 West Albany:
    • 44.301356, -92.285454
    • 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 West Albany
  • 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 West Albany ...

We found two communities that share the name West Albany.

Within Minnesota, the name West Albany is unique.

Beyond Minnesota, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Albany County
      • This West Albany is located in Albany County and lies 931 miles [1,498.3 km]<1> to the east of the West Albany that is located in Wabasha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albany County community of West Albany.
    • Oregon
      • Benton 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 West Albany [Benton County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Albany ...

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.

  • Bear Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
    • Bear Valley is located in Wabasha County
  • Cedar Beach
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Beach
    • Cedar Beach is located in Olmsted County
  • Conception
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conception have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conception
    • Conception is located in Wabasha County
  • Dumfries
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dumfries have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumfries
    • Dumfries is located in Wabasha County
  • Lake City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
    • Lake City is located in Wabasha County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,114 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake City <4>
  • Maple Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Springs
    • Maple Springs is located in Wabasha County
  • Oak Center
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Center
    • Oak Center is located in Wabasha County
  • Plainview
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainview have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
    • Plainview is located in Wabasha County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,292 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plainview <4>
  • Reads Landing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reads Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reads Landing
    • Reads Landing is located in Wabasha County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reads Landing <4>

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

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

  • Wabasha, which is the Seat of Wabasha County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Albany to Wabasha, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 60 miles [96.6 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 869 miles [1,398.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,225 miles [10,018.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,977 miles [11,228.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,880 miles [7,853.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

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

The official website for Wabasha County: www.co.wabasha.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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Albany) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Albany. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3014, Longitude: -92.2855       In this case, the coordinates for West Albany 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 West Albany 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 West Albany 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 317.605 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.281 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.291 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024