Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ragan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ragan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ragan
- 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 Ragan:
- 40.310752, -99.289647
- 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 Ragan
- 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 Harlan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Harlan County
- Since Ragan is near Phelps County and also Kearney County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Phelps County
- eBird sighting report for Kearney 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 Ragan ...
We found three communities that share the name Ragan.
Within Nebraska, the name Ragan is unique.
Beyond Nebraska, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- North Carolina
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ragan ...
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.
- Alfalfa Center
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alfalfa Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alfalfa Center
- Alfalfa Center is located in Buffalo County
- Clyde
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Edison
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
- Edison is located in Furnas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edison <4>
- Franklin
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 899 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <4>
- Funk
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Funk have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Funk
- Funk is located in Phelps County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Funk <4>
- Mascot
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mascot
- Mascot is located in Harlan County
- Orleans
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orleans have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
- Orleans is located in Harlan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 363 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orleans <4>
- Republican City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Republican City
- Republican City is located in Harlan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Republican City <4>
How Far From Ragan 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 village such as Ragan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ragan and extending to:
- Alma, which is the Seat of Harlan County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ragan to Alma, 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.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 140 miles [225.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,184 miles [1,905.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 68 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,665 miles [10,726.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,421 miles [11,942.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,329 miles [8,576.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ragan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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- Ragan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ragan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3108, Longitude: -99.2896 In this case, the coordinates for Ragan 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 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 Ragan 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> | 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 Ragan 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 322.408 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 320.296 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.847 degrees. |