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










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
North Dakota


The Commemorative Quarter for North Dakota







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shell Creek, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shell Creek 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 Shell Creek:
    • 47.820071, -102.343941
    • 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 Shell Creek
  • 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 Shell Creek ...

We found three communities that share the name Shell Creek.

Within North Dakota, the name Shell Creek is unique.

Beyond North Dakota, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • DeSoto 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 Florida community of Shell Creek [DeSoto County].
    • Nebraska
      • Colfax 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 Shell Creek [Colfax County].
    • Tennessee
      • Carter County
      • This Shell Creek is located in Carter County and lies 1,308 miles [2,105 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Shell Creek that is located in McLean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carter County community of Shell Creek.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shell Creek ...

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.

  • Elbowoods ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elbowoods. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbowoods
    • Elbowoods is located in McLean County
  • Four Bears Village
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Bears Village
    • Four Bears Village is located in McKenzie County
  • Independance ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independance
    • Independance is located in Dunn County
  • Lucky Mound ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucky Mound
    • Lucky Mound is located in McLean County
  • Prairie Junction
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Junction
    • Prairie Junction is located in Mountrail County
  • Red Butte ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Red Butte. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Butte
    • Red Butte is located in Mercer County
  • Roseglen
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Spotted Horn
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spotted Horn have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spotted Horn
    • Spotted Horn is located in McKenzie County
  • Twin Buttes
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Buttes
    • Twin Buttes is located in Dunn County

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<6> community of Shell Creek once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Shell Creek and extending to:

  • Washburn, which is the Seat of McLean County, lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could drive a straight line from Shell Creek to Washburn, with an average speed<7>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • Bismarck, which is the State Capital of North Dakota, lies 101 miles [162.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving 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 1,403 miles [2,257.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
  • The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,337 miles [10,198.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,104 miles [11,432.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,069 miles [8,157.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>

The official website for McLean County: www.visitmcleancounty.com/

The official website for State of North Dakota: www.nd.gov/

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Shell Creek 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Shell Creek) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shell Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.8201, Longitude: -102.3439    
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>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 Shell Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Shell Creek 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 324.99 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.147 degrees.
<11>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.174 degrees.









 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024