RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Nebraska >> Saline County >> Swanton >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Swanton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swanton and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Swanton:
    • 40.380698, -97.079628
    • 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 Swanton
  • 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 Saline County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saline County
    • Since Swanton is near Jefferson County and also Gage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gage 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 Swanton

Communities Also Named Swanton ...

We found six communities that are also named Swanton.

Within Nebraska, the name Swanton is unique.

Beyond Nebraska, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Santa Cruz County
      • This Swanton is located in Santa Cruz County and lies 1,369 miles [2,203.2 km]<1> to the west of the Swanton that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Cruz County community of Swanton.
    • Iowa
      • Butler County
      • This Swanton is located in Butler County and lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Swanton that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Swanton.
    • Maryland
      • Garrett County
      • This Swanton is located in Garrett County and lies 945 miles [1,520.8 km]<1> to the east of the Swanton that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Garrett County community of Swanton.
      • Kent County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maryland community of Swanton [Kent County].
    • Ohio
      • Fulton County
      • This Swanton is located in Fulton County and lies 691 miles [1,112.1 km]<1> to the east of the Swanton that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Swanton.
    • Vermont
      • Franklin County
      • This Swanton is located in Franklin County and lies 1,251 miles [2,013.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Swanton that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Swanton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Swanton ...

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.

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

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

  • Wilber, which is the Seat of Saline County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Swanton to Wilber, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 35 miles [56.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,068 miles [1,718.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 61 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,589 miles [10,604 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,342 miles [11,815.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,242 miles [8,436.2 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Swanton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Swanton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Swanton 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 Swanton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3807, Longitude: -97.0796    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.843 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.491 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.685 degrees.