Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Watertown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Watertown and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Watertown
- 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 Watertown:
- 44.901148, -97.105744
- 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 Watertown
- 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 Codington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Codington County
- Since Watertown is near Hamlin County and also Deuel County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hamlin County
- eBird sighting report for Deuel 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 Watertown ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Watertown.
Within South Dakota, the name Watertown is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twenty communities, nineteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Ogle County
- This Watertown is located in Ogle County and lies 440 miles [708.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Watertown that is located in Codington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ogle County community of Watertown.
- Richland County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Watertown [Richland County].
- Rock Island 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 Illinois community of Watertown [Rock Island County].
- Kansas
- Allen 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 Watertown [Allen County].
- Anderson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Watertown [Anderson County].
- Smith County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Watertown [Smith County].
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New York
- Ohio
- Saskatchewan
- This Watertown lies 584 miles [939.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Watertown that is located in Codington County.
- Tennessee
- Blount County
- This Watertown is located in Blount County and lies 942 miles [1,516 km]<1> to the southeast of the Watertown that is located in Codington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blount County community of Watertown.
- Wilson County
- This Watertown is located in Wilson County and lies 835 miles [1,343.8 km] to the southeast of the Watertown that is located in Codington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Watertown.
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Watertown ...
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.
- Clear Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
- Clear Lake is located in Deuel County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,260 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clear Lake <4>
- Florence
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florence have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Florence is located in Codington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Florence <4>
- Garden City
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garden City <4>
- Grover
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Hazel
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazel have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
- Hazel is located in Hamlin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hazel <4>
- Henry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Henry is located in Codington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <4>
- Naples
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
- Naples is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
- Stone Bridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stone Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Bridge
- Stone Bridge is located in Hamlin County
- Estimated population in 2014: 105 people
- Strandburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strandburg
- Strandburg is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Strandburg <4>
How Far From Watertown to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Watertown to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Watertown and extending to:
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 162 miles [260.7 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Watertown to Pierre, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,107 miles [1,781.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 63 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 7,107 miles [11,437.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,030 miles [8,095 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Watertown: www.watertownsd.com/
The official website for Codington County: www.codington.org/
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- Watertown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Watertown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.9011, Longitude: -97.1057 |
| <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 Watertown, 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 Watertown 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 Watertown 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 321.045 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.289 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.778 degrees. |