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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shafter, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shafter 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 Shafter:
    • 39.983908, -93.284931
    • 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 Shafter
  • 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 Linn County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Linn County
    • Since Shafter is near Livingston County and also Sullivan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Livingston County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sullivan 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 Shafter

Communities Also Named Shafter ...

We found six communities that are also named Shafter.

Within Missouri, the name Shafter is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Kern County
      • This Shafter is located in Kern County and lies 1,447 miles [2,328.7 km]<1> to the west of the Shafter that is located in Linn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Shafter.
      • Marin County
      • This Shafter is located in Marin County and lies 1,577 miles [2,537.9 km] to the west of the Shafter that is located in Linn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marin County community of Shafter.
    • Illinois
      • Fayette County
      • This Shafter is located in Fayette County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Shafter that is located in Linn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Shafter.
    • Kentucky
      • Pulaski County
      • This Shafter is located in Pulaski County and lies 507 miles [815.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Shafter that is located in Linn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Shafter.
    • Nevada
      • Elko 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 Nevada community of Shafter [Elko County].
    • Texas
      • Presidio County
      • This Shafter is located in Presidio County and lies 937 miles [1,508 km]<1> to the southwest of the Shafter that is located in Linn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Presidio County community of Shafter.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shafter ...

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.

  • Alpha
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Alpha is located in Grundy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
  • Enterprise
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Enterprise is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Farmersville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Farmersville is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmersville
  • Grantsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Grantsville is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantsville
  • Harmony ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Harmony is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Meadville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Meadville is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
  • Parsons
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Parsons is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
  • Paw Paw
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Paw Paw is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw

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

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

  • Linneus, which is the Seat of Linn County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Shafter to Linneus, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 868 miles [1,396.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,480 miles [10,428.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,225 miles [11,627.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,114 miles [8,230.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Shafter) 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 Shafter, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Shafter 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 Shafter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9839, Longitude: -93.2849       In this case, the coordinates for Shafter have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.194 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.38 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.842 degrees.