Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Thurston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thurston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Thurston
- 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 Thurston:
- 42.176904, -96.700232
- 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 Thurston
- 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 Thurston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Thurston County
- Since Thurston is near Dixon County and also Dakota County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Dixon County
- eBird sighting report for Dakota 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 Thurston ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Thurston.
There is one other community in Nebraska which is also named Thurston.
Beyond Nebraska, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Nebraska ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Maryland
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Thurston ...
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.
- Allen
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Allen is located in Dixon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <4>
- Beemer
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beemer
- Beemer is located in Cuming County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 656 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beemer <4>
- Dakota Dunes
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota Dunes
- Dakota Dunes is located in Union County (SD)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dakota Dunes <4>
- Glen Ellen
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Ellen
- Glen Ellen is located in Woodbury County (IA)
- Homer
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
- Homer is located in Dakota County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homer <4>
- Lyons
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyons have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
- Lyons is located in Burt County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 800 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyons <4>
- Macy
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macy have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macy
- Macy is located in Thurston County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Macy <4>
- Maple Landing ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Landing
- Maple Landing is located in Monona County (IA)
- Martinsburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsburg
- Martinsburg is located in Dixon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
- Sergeant Bluff
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sergeant Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sergeant Bluff
- Sergeant Bluff is located in Woodbury County (IA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,119 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sergeant Bluff <4>
How Far From Thurston 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 Thurston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Thurston and extending to:
- Pender, which is the Seat of Thurston County, lies just to the South.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Thurston to Lincoln, with an average speed<6>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,053 miles [1,694.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 60 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,481 miles [10,430.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,236 miles [11,645.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,143 miles [8,276.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Thurston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Nebraska: www.nebraska.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Thurston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thurston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thurston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1769, Longitude: -96.7002 In this case, the coordinates for Thurston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Thurston 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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 Thurston 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 320.667 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.512 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.142 degrees. |