Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Iola, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Iola and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Iola
- 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 Iola:
- 30.771471, -96.076348
- 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 Iola
- 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 Grimes County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Grimes County
- Since Iola is near Brazos County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Brazos County
- eBird sighting report for Madison 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 Iola ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Iola.
Within Texas, the name Iola is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Florida
- Calhoun County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Iola [Calhoun County].
- Gulf County
- This Iola is located in Gulf County and lies 650 miles [1,046.1 km]<3> to the east of the Iola that is located in Grimes County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gulf County community of Iola.
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Allen County
- This Iola is located in Allen County and lies 495 miles [796.6 km]<3> to the north of the Iola that is located in Grimes County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allen County community of Iola.
- Doniphan County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Iola [Doniphan County].
- Kentucky
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Iola ...
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.
- Channey Crossing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Channey Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Channey Crossing
- Channey Crossing is located in Brazos County
- Cotton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Cottonwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Cottonwood is located in Madison County
- Cross
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Democrat Crossing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Democrat Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Democrat Crossing
- Democrat Crossing is located in Brazos County
- George
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
- George is located in Madison County
- Harvey
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Keith
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Reliance
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Steep Hollow
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steep Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steep Hollow
- Steep Hollow is located in Brazos County
How Far From Iola 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 Iola to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Iola and extending to:
- Anderson, which is the Seat of Grimes County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<3> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Iola to Anderson, with an average speed<5> 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 most of a day.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 105 miles [169 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,212 miles [1,950.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 69 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,062 miles [11,365.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,789 miles [12,535.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,664 miles [9,115.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Iola. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Iola 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. |
| <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 Iola, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Iola) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Iola. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.7715, Longitude: -96.0763 In this case, the coordinates for Iola have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Iola 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 319.195 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.354 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.556 degrees. |