Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in De Soto, we use the following websites to find information relevant to De Soto and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for De Soto
- 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 De Soto:
- 38.140187, -90.554565
- 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 De Soto
- 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since De Soto is near Washington County and also Saint Francois County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Francois 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named De Soto ...
We found ten communities that share the name De Soto.
Within Missouri, the name De Soto is unique.
Beyond Missouri, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Floyd County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of De Soto [Floyd County].
- Sumter County
- This De Soto is located in Sumter County and lies 562 miles [904.5 km]<2> to the southeast of the De Soto that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of De Soto.
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near De Soto ...
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.
- Cottage Farm
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottage Farm have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Farm
- Cottage Farm is located in Jefferson County
- Cruise Mill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cruise Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cruise Mill
- Cruise Mill is located in Washington County
- Fertile
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Goldman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goldman have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldman
- Goldman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goldman <5>
- Hematite
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Ludwig
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Mount Freedom
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Freedom have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Freedom
- Mount Freedom is located in Jefferson County
- Silica
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Silver Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
- Silver Springs is located in Saint Francois County
- Tiff
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Vineland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
How Far From De Soto to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as De Soto to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in De Soto and extending to:
- Hillsboro, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the North.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 731 miles [1,176.4 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from De Soto to White House, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 42 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,474 miles [10,418.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,209 miles [11,601.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,088 miles [8,188.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for De Soto. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jefferson County: www.jeffcomo.org/
The official website for State of Missouri: https://www.mo.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 De Soto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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 from Point A (ie- De Soto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in De Soto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1402, Longitude: -90.5546 |
| <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 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 De Soto 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> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 De Soto to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.286 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.933 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.925 degrees. |