Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Plaza, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plaza and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Plaza
- 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 Plaza:
- 48.025568, -101.959889
- 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 Plaza
- 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 Mountrail County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mountrail County
- Since Plaza is near Ward County and also McLean County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ward County
- eBird sighting report for McLean 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 Plaza ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Plaza.
Within North Dakota, the name Plaza is unique.
Beyond North Dakota, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Calhoun 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 Michigan community of Plaza [Calhoun County].
- Ottawa 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 Michigan community of Plaza [Ottawa County].
- New Jersey
- Burlington 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 New Jersey community of Plaza [Burlington County].
- Hudson 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 New Jersey community of Plaza [Hudson County].
- New Mexico
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Plaza ...
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.
- Charging Eagle ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Charging Eagle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charging Eagle
- Charging Eagle is located in McLean County
- Hartland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north) - Independance ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Independance. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independance
- Independance is located in Dunn County
- Lonetree
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonetree
- Lonetree is located in Ward County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lonetree <6>
- Lucky Mound ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lucky Mound. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucky Mound
- Lucky Mound is located in McLean County
- Prairie Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Junction
- Prairie Junction is located in Mountrail County
- Roseglen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseglen
- Roseglen is located in McLean County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roseglen <6>
- Shell Creek ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shell Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Creek
- Shell Creek is located in McLean County
- Stanley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- Stanley is located in Mountrail County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,708 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stanley <6>
How Far From Plaza 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 Plaza to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Plaza and extending to:
- Stanley, which is the Seat of Mountrail County, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Plaza to Stanley, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Bismarck, which is the State Capital of North Dakota, lies 100 miles [160.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,390 miles [2,237 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 79 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,315 miles [10,163 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,082 miles [11,397.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,047 miles [8,122.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plaza. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of North Dakota: www.nd.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Plaza) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plaza. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.0256, Longitude: -101.9599 In this case, the coordinates for Plaza have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Plaza 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> | 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 Plaza, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | 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. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Plaza to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 324.702 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 323.843 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.90 degrees. |