Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Groton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Groton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Groton
- 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 Groton:
- 45.451903, -98.100376
- 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 Groton
- 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 Brown County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Brown County
- Since Groton is near Day County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Day County
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Groton ...
We found nine communities that share the name Groton.
Within South Dakota, the name Groton is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Kansas
- Logan County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Logan County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Groton.
- Wallace County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Groton [Wallace County].
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Ohio
- Erie County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Erie County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Groton.
- Putnam County
- This community is historic and although located in Putnam County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Groton.
- Vermont
Curious and Interesting Names Near Groton ...
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.
- Bath
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
- Bath is located in Brown County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bath <4>
- Butler
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast) - Frisby ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north) - James
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Randolph
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south) - Rudolph
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west) - Spain
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Groton 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 city such as Groton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Groton and extending to:
- Aberdeen, which is the Seat of Brown County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Groton to Aberdeen, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 131 miles [210.8 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 1,164 miles [1,873.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,348 miles [10,216.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,110 miles [11,442.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,039 miles [8,109.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Groton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Brown County: www.brown.sd.us/
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Groton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Groton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.4519, Longitude: -98.1004 In this case, the coordinates for Groton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Groton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Groton 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 Groton 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 321.781 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 320.199 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.213 degrees. |