Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ajax, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ajax and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ajax
- 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 Ajax:
- 43.897489, -103.181851
- 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 Ajax
- 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 Pennington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pennington County
- Since Ajax is near Custer County and also Meade County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Custer County
- eBird sighting report for Meade 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 Ajax ...
We found ten communities that share the name Ajax.
Within South Dakota, the name Ajax is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Ontario
- This Ajax lies 1,198 miles [1,928 km]<2> to the east of the Ajax that is located in Pennington County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Hays 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 Texas community of Ajax [Hays County].
- Panola County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Panola County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Panola County community of Ajax.
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ajax ...
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.
- Box Elder
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Box Elder have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Box Elder
- Box Elder is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,564 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Box Elder <5>
- Frenchtown ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frenchtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
- Frenchtown is located in Pennington County
- Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
- Green Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Green Valley is located in Pennington County
- Estimated population in 2014: 51 people
- Kennedyville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedyville
- Kennedyville is located in Pennington County
- Keystone
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
- Keystone is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keystone <5>
- Murphy
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Rapid City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid City
- Rapid City is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 78,864 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rapid City <5>
- Rapid Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid Valley
- Rapid Valley is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 8,260 people
- Rockerville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockerville
- Rockerville is located in Pennington County
- Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockerville <5>
How Far From Ajax 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 community such as Ajax to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ajax and extending to:
- Rapid City, which is the Seat of Pennington County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Ajax to Rapid City, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 145 miles [233.4 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 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,391 miles [2,238.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 79 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,583 miles [10,594.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,347 miles [11,823.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,292 miles [8,516.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ajax. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Pennington County: www.co.pennington.sd.us/
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.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 Ajax 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ajax) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ajax. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8975, Longitude: -103.1819 In this case, the coordinates for Ajax have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Ajax, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Ajax 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 325.482 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.273 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.395 degrees. |