RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
Quarter for
New Mexico


The Commemorative Quarter for New Mexico







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Des Moines, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Des Moines 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 Des Moines:
    • 36.762586, -103.835850
    • 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 Des Moines
  • 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 Des Moines ...

We found four communities that share the name Des Moines.

There is one other community in New Mexico which is also named Des Moines.

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

  • Communities Located In New Mexico ...
    • 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 New Mexico community of Des Moines [Colfax County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Orange County
      • This Des Moines is located in Orange County and lies 818 miles [1,316.4 km]<2> to the west of the Des Moines that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Des Moines.
    • Iowa
      • Polk County
      • This Des Moines is located in Polk County and lies 640 miles [1,030 km]<2> to the northeast of the Des Moines that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Des Moines.
    • Washington
      • King County
      • This Des Moines is located in King County and lies 1,193 miles [1,919.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Des Moines that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the King County community of Des Moines.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Des Moines ...

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.

  • Guy
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guy
    • Guy is located in Union County
  • Kiowa ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kiowa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiowa
    • Kiowa is located in Colfax County
  • Lone Oak
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lone Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
    • Lone Oak is located in Las Animas County (CO)
  • Sofia
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sofia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sofia
    • Sofia is located in Union County
  • Walts Corner
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walts Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walts Corner
    • Walts Corner is located in Las Animas County (CO)
  • Willow Springs ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs
    • Willow Springs is located in Union County
  • Yankee ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee
    • Yankee is located in Colfax County

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

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

  • Clayton, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Des Moines to Clayton, with an average speed<4> 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.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 139 miles [223.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 1,463 miles [2,354.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 58 days and walking would take 84 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,008 miles [11,278.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,765 miles [12,496.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,676 miles [9,134.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Des Moines. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.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 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 Des Moines 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Des Moines) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Des Moines. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7626, Longitude: -103.8358       In this case, the coordinates for Des Moines have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 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 Des Moines to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.367 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 323.351 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 317.66 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024