RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Laclede County >> Ira >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ira, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ira 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 Ira:
    • 37.872814, -92.849629
    • 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 Ira
  • 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 Laclede County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Laclede County
    • Since Ira is near Dallas County and also Camden County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dallas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Camden 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 Ira

Communities Also Named Ira ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Ira.

Within Missouri, the name Ira is unique.

Beyond Missouri, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Jasper County
      • This Ira is located in Jasper County and lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<1> to the north of the Ira that is located in Laclede County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jasper County community of Ira.
    • Nebraska
      • Boone 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 Nebraska community of Ira [Boone County].
    • New York
      • Cayuga County
      • This Ira is located in Cayuga County and lies 929 miles [1,495.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ira that is located in Laclede County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cayuga County community of Ira.
    • North Carolina
      • Wilkes 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 Ira [Wilkes County].
    • Ohio
      • Summit County
      • This Ira is located in Summit County and lies 641 miles [1,031.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ira that is located in Laclede County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Summit County community of Ira.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clearfield 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 Pennsylvania community of Ira [Clearfield County].
    • Texas
      • Red River 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 Texas community of Ira [Red River County].
      • Scurry County
      • This Ira is located in Scurry County and lies 586 miles [943.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Ira that is located in Laclede County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scurry County community of Ira.
    • Vermont
      • Rutland County
      • This Ira is located in Rutland County and lies 1,103 miles [1,775.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ira that is located in Laclede County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutland County community of Ira.
    • Virginia
      • Buchanan County
      • This Ira is located in Buchanan County and lies 588 miles [946.3 km]<1> to the east of the Ira that is located in Laclede County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buchanan County community of Ira.
    • West Virginia
      • Clay County
      • This Ira is located in Clay County and lies 646 miles [1,039.6 km]<1> to the east of the Ira that is located in Laclede County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Ira.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ira ...

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.

  • Case
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Case is located in Laclede County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Case
  • Celt
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Celt is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Celt
  • Corkery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Corkery is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corkery
  • Grace
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Grace is located in Laclede County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
  • Green Gables ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Green Gables is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Gables
  • Leadmine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Leadmine is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leadmine
  • Miller Ford ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Miller Ford is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller Ford
  • Only
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Only is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Only
  • Pleasant Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Ralphwhite Ford ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Ralphwhite Ford is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ralphwhite Ford
  • Rodger Ford ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Rodger Ford is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodger Ford
  • Sweet Hollow Ford ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Sweet Hollow Ford is located in Laclede County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Hollow Ford
  • Tom Hollow Ford ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Tom Hollow Ford is located in Laclede County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tom Hollow Ford

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

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

  • Lebanon, which is the Seat of Laclede County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ira to Lebanon, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 60 miles [96.6 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 857 miles [1,379.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,573 miles [10,578.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,312 miles [11,767.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,194 miles [8,358.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Ira) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Ira 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>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 Ira 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 Ira. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8728, Longitude: -92.8496       In this case, the coordinates for Ira have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.788 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.633 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.061 degrees.