Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Graf, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Graf and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Graf
- 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 Graf:
- 40.401038, -96.104194
- 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 Graf
- 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 Johnson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- Since Graf is near Nemaha County and also Otoe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nemaha County
- eBird sighting report for Otoe 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 Graf ...
We found two communities that share the name Graf.
Within Nebraska, the name Graf is unique.
Beyond Nebraska, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Graf ...
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.
- Burr
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burr have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr
- Burr is located in Otoe County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burr <4>
- Cook
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook
- Cook is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cook <4>
- Crab Orchard
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crab Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Orchard
- Crab Orchard is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crab Orchard <4>
- Elk Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Creek
- Elk Creek is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk Creek <4>
- Helena ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Humboldt
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
- Humboldt is located in Richardson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 796 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Humboldt <4>
- Julian
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Mayberry
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest) - Paul
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast) - Table Rock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Table Rock
- Table Rock is located in Pawnee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Table Rock <4>
How Far From Graf to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Graf 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<5> community of Graf once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Graf and extending to:
- Tecumseh, which is the Seat of Johnson County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Graf to Lincoln, with an average speed<6> 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 just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,017 miles [1,636.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,556 miles [10,550.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,306 miles [11,757.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,204 miles [8,375 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Johnson County: www.co.johnson.ne.us/
The official website for State of Nebraska: www.nebraska.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Graf) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Graf. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4010, Longitude: -96.1042 In this case, the coordinates for Graf 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 Graf 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> | 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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 Graf, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Graf to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.16 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.703 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.18 degrees. |