RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Dakota >> Williams County >> McGregor >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McGregor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McGregor 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 McGregor:
    • 48.595572, -102.928429
    • 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 McGregor
  • 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 Williams County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Williams County
    • Since McGregor is near Burke County and also Mountrail County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Burke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mountrail 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 McGregor

Communities Also Named McGregor ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named McGregor.

Within North Dakota, the name McGregor is unique.

Beyond North Dakota, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, eleven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Woodruff County
      • This McGregor is located in Woodruff County and lies 1,111 miles [1,788 km]<1> to the southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodruff County community of McGregor.
    • British Columbia
      • This McGregor lies 895 miles [1,440.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
    • Colorado
      • Routt County
      • This McGregor is located in Routt County and lies 595 miles [957.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Routt County community of McGregor.
    • Florida
      • Lee County
      • This McGregor is located in Lee County and lies 1,893 miles [3,046.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of McGregor.
    • Georgia
      • Montgomery County
      • This McGregor is located in Montgomery County and lies 1,550 miles [2,494.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of McGregor.
    • Indiana
      • Jefferson 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 Indiana community of McGregor [Jefferson County].
    • Iowa
      • Clayton County
      • This McGregor is located in Clayton County and lies 682 miles [1,097.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clayton County community of McGregor.
    • Kansas
      • Sheridan 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 Kansas community of McGregor [Sheridan County].
    • Michigan
      • Sanilac County
      • This McGregor is located in Sanilac County and lies 1,026 miles [1,651.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sanilac County community of McGregor.
    • Minnesota
      • Aitkin County
      • This McGregor is located in Aitkin County and lies 468 miles [753.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aitkin County community of McGregor.
    • Ontario
      • This McGregor lies 1,061 miles [1,707.5 km]<1> to the east southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Armstrong County
      • This McGregor is located in Armstrong County and lies 1,269 miles [2,042.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of McGregor.
    • Texas
      • McLennan County
      • This McGregor is located in McLennan County and lies 1,220 miles [1,963.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the McGregor that is located in Williams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLennan County community of McGregor.

Curious and Interesting Names Near McGregor ...

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.

  • Bounty
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Bounty is located in Divide County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bounty
  • Columbus
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Hamlet
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Juno
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Juno is located in Divide County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
  • Kermit
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Kermit is located in Divide County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kermit
  • Lignite
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Lostwood
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Lostwood is located in Mountrail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lostwood
  • Powers Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Rival ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Stampede
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Stampede is located in Burke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stampede
  • Temple
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Temple is located in Williams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple
  • Wildrose
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Williston, which is the Seat of Williams County, lies 44 miles [70.8 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from McGregor to Williston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • Bismarck, which is the State Capital of North Dakota, lies 159 miles [255.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,444 miles [2,323.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 57 days and walking would take 82 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,309 miles [10,153.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,076 miles [11,387.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,050 miles [8,127.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- McGregor) 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 McGregor 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 McGregor 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 McGregor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.5956, Longitude: -102.9284    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.446 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.756 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.362 degrees.