RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Dakota >> Pennington County >> Pactola >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
South Dakota

The Commemorative Quarter for South Dakota





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pactola, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pactola 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 Pactola:
    • 44.073228, -103.488608
    • 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 Pactola
  • 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

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pactola ...

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.

  • Benchmark
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benchmark have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benchmark
    • Benchmark is located in Lawrence County
  • Blackhawk
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Carwye ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carwye have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carwye
    • Carwye is located in Meade County
  • Diamond City ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
    • Diamond City is located in Lawrence County
  • Five Points
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Five Points is located in Pennington County
  • Greenwood
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Hill City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
    • Hill City is located in Pennington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,074 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hill City <2>
  • Kennedyville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedyville
    • Kennedyville is located in Pennington County
  • Mystic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Nemo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Redfern
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redfern have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfern
    • Redfern is located in Pennington County
  • Rockerville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Silver City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
      • Silver City is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
    • Summerset
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Tigerville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tigerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigerville
      • Tigerville is located in Pennington County
    • Tomahawk
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tomahawk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
      • Tomahawk is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 36 people

How Far From Pactola 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 community such as Pactola to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Pactola once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Pactola and extending to:

  • Rapid City, which is the Seat of Pennington County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<4> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Pactola to Rapid City, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 158 miles [254.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,407 miles [2,264.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,581 miles [10,591.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,346 miles [11,822.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,293 miles [8,518.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

The official website for Pennington County: www.co.pennington.sd.us/

The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Pactola, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Pactola) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pactola. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0732, Longitude: -103.4886       In this case, the coordinates for Pactola have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Pactola to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.721 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.569 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.541 degrees.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025