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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rowena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rowena 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 Rowena:
    • 43.520252, -96.555878
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Rowena
  • 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 Minnehaha County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Minnehaha County
    • Since Rowena is near Lyon County and also Lincoln County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lyon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Rowena

Communities Also Named Rowena ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Rowena.

Within South Dakota, the name Rowena is unique.

Beyond South Dakota, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, eleven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Boulder County
      • This Rowena is located in Boulder County and lies 512 miles [824 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boulder County community of Rowena.
    • Georgia
      • Early County
      • This Rowena is located in Early County and lies 1,057 miles [1,701.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Early County community of Rowena.
    • Kansas
      • Rowena #
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Rowena.
    • Kentucky
      • Russell County
      • This Rowena is located in Russell County and lies 757 miles [1,218.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Russell County community of Rowena.
    • Michigan
      • Ogemaw County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Rowena [Ogemaw County].
    • Minnesota
      • Redwood County
      • This Rowena is located in Redwood County and lies 92 miles [148.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Redwood County community of Rowena.
    • Missouri
      • Audrain County
      • This Rowena is located in Audrain County and lies 371 miles [597.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Audrain County community of Rowena.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Rowena lies 1,418 miles [2,282 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
    • Ontario
      • This Rowena lies 1,054 miles [1,696.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
    • Oregon
      • Wasco County
      • This Rowena is located in Wasco County and lies 1,218 miles [1,960.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wasco County community of Rowena.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Rowena [Lancaster County].
      • Somerset County
      • This Rowena is located in Somerset County and lies 935 miles [1,504.7 km]<1> to the east of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Rowena.
    • Texas
      • Runnels County
      • This Rowena is located in Runnels County and lies 841 miles [1,353.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Rowena that is located in Minnehaha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Runnels County community of Rowena.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rowena ...

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.

  • Beaver Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Beaver Creek is located in Rock County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
  • Bruce
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Bruce is located in Rock County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
  • Granite
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Granite is located in Lyon County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
  • Harrisburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Hills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Hills is located in Rock County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 647 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hills <3>
  • Lester
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lester is located in Lyon County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
  • Manley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Manley is located in Rock County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manley
  • Skyline Heights
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Skyline Heights is located in Minnehaha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Heights
  • Split Rock Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Split Rock Heights is located in Minnehaha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Split Rock Heights
    • Estimated population in 2014: 216 people
  • Valley Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Sioux Falls, which is the Seat of Minnehaha County, lies just to the West.
  • Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 197 miles [317 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Rowena to Pierre, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,060 miles [1,705.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 61 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,405 miles [10,307.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,161 miles [11,524.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,074 miles [8,165.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Rowena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Rowena 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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Rowena to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rowena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5203, Longitude: -96.5559       In this case, the coordinates for Rowena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.614 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.62 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.782 degrees.