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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rumford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rumford 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 Rumford:
    • 43.126606, -103.699845
    • 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 Rumford
  • 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 Fall River County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fall River County
    • Since Rumford is near Sioux County and also Custer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sioux County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Custer 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 Rumford

Communities Also Named Rumford ...

We found three communities that are also named Rumford.

Within South Dakota, the name Rumford is unique.

Beyond South Dakota, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Oxford County
      • This Rumford is located in Oxford County and lies 1,642 miles [2,642.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rumford that is located in Fall River County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oxford County community of Rumford.
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence County
      • This Rumford is located in Providence County and lies 1,639 miles [2,637.7 km]<1> to the east of the Rumford that is located in Fall River County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Providence County community of Rumford.
    • Virginia
      • King William County
      • This Rumford is located in King William County and lies 1,440 miles [2,317.5 km]<1> to the east of the Rumford that is located in Fall River County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the King William County community of Rumford.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rumford ...

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.

  • Argyle
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Argyle is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
  • Dennis
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Dennis is located in Fall River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
  • Five Points
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Five Points is located in Sioux County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Horn
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hot Springs
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Igloo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Igloo is located in Fall River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Igloo
  • Ivanhoe ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
    • Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
  • Oral
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Oral is located in Fall River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral
    • Estimated population in 2014: 206 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oral <2>
  • Rocky Ford
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Rocky Ford is located in Fall River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
    • Estimated population in 2014: 6 people
  • Story
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Story is located in Sioux County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Story

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

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

  • Hot Springs, which is the Seat of Fall River County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rumford to Hot Springs, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 187 miles [300.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,413 miles [2,274 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 56 days and walking would take 81 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,641 miles [10,687.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,406 miles [11,918.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,348 miles [8,606.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rumford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Rumford 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 Rumford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1266, Longitude: -103.6998       In this case, the coordinates for Rumford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.826 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.586 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.811 degrees.