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 Urbana:
37.843454, -93.167562
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.
We found fifteen communities that share the name Urbana.
There is one other community in Missouri which is also named Urbana.
Beyond Missouri, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Located In Missouri ...
Henry County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Urbana [Henry County].
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Arkansas
Union County
This Urbana is located in Union County and lies 325 miles [523 km]<2> to the south of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Urbana.
Illinois
Champaign County
This Urbana is located in Champaign County and lies 309 miles [497.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Champaign County community of Urbana.
Indiana
Wabash County
This Urbana is located in Wabash County and lies 446 miles [717.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wabash County community of Urbana.
Iowa
Benton County
This Urbana is located in Benton County and lies 310 miles [498.9 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Urbana.
Kansas
Allen County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Urbana [Allen County].
Nemaha County
We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Urbana [Nemaha County].
Neosho County
This Urbana is located in Neosho County and lies 123 miles [197.9 km]<2> to the west of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Neosho County community of Urbana.
Shawnee County
We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Urbana [Shawnee County].
Maryland
Frederick County
This Urbana is located in Frederick County and lies 858 miles [1,380.8 km]<2> to the east of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Frederick County community of Urbana.
Nebraska
Phelps County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Urbana [Phelps County].
New York
Steuben County
This Urbana is located in Steuben County and lies 900 miles [1,448.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Steuben County community of Urbana.
North Dakota
Barnes County
This Urbana is located in Barnes County and lies 681 miles [1,096 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barnes County community of Urbana.
Ohio
Champaign County
This Urbana is located in Champaign County and lies 528 miles [849.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Champaign County community of Urbana.
Texas
San Jacinto County
This Urbana is located in San Jacinto County and lies 513 miles [825.6 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Urbana that is located in Dallas County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Jacinto County community of Urbana.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Urbana ...
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.
Branch (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sentinel. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
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 Urbana to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Urbana and extending to:
Buffalo, which is the Seat of Dallas County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Urbana to Buffalo, with an average speed<5> 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 four to five hours.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 875 miles [1,408.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 50 days.
The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,586 miles [10,599.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,325 miles [11,788.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,208 miles [8,381.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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 Urbana 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.
<2>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Urbana) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Urbana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8435, Longitude: -93.1676 In this case, the coordinates for Urbana have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>
An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Urbana 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 317.999 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.873 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.218 degrees.