RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Douglas County >> Downing >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Downing, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Downing 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 Downing:
    • 48.042089, -119.693110
    • 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 Downing
  • 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
    • Since Downing is near Okanogan County and also Chelan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Okanogan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chelan 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 Downing

Communities Also Named Downing ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Downing.

Within Washington, the name Downing is unique.

Beyond Washington, we know of sixteen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Escambia 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 Alabama community of Downing [Escambia County].
      • Montgomery County
      • This Downing is located in Montgomery County and lies 2,066 miles [3,324.9 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Downing that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Downing.
    • Colorado
      • Las Animas 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 Colorado community of Downing [Las Animas County].
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Downing is located in Hillsborough County and lies 2,418 miles [3,891.4 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Downing that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Downing.
    • Kansas
      • Coffey 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 Downing [Coffey County].
      • Morris County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Downing [Morris County].
    • Michigan
      • Sanilac 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 Michigan community of Downing [Sanilac County].
      • Tuscola 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 Michigan community of Downing [Tuscola County].
    • Missouri
      • Schuyler County
      • This Downing is located in Schuyler County and lies 1,438 miles [2,314.2 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Downing that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Schuyler County community of Downing.
    • New York
      • Montgomery 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 New York community of Downing [Montgomery County].
    • North Dakota
      • Richland 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 North Dakota community of Downing [Richland County].
    • Oregon
      • Columbia County
      • This Downing is located in Columbia County and lies 205 miles [329.9 km]<2> to the southwest of the Downing that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Downing.
      • Umatilla County
      • This Downing is located in Umatilla County and lies 162 miles [260.7 km] to the south southeast of the Downing that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Umatilla County community of Downing.
    • Texas
      • Comanche County
      • This Downing is located in Comanche County and lies 1,562 miles [2,513.8 km]<2> to the southeast of the Downing that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Comanche County community of Downing.
    • Virginia
      • Warren County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Downing [Warren County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Dunn County
      • This Downing is located in Dunn County and lies 1,318 miles [2,121.1 km]<2> to the east of the Downing that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dunn County community of Downing.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Downing ...

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.

  • Dyer ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Dyer is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer
  • Greens Landing
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Greens Landing is located in Chelan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Landing
  • Howard
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Howard is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
  • Mud Spring
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Mud Spring is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Spring
  • Paradise Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Paradise Hill is located in Okanogan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Hill
  • Rocky Butte
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Rocky Butte is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Butte
  • Sunnybank
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunnybank is located in Chelan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybank
  • Virginia City ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Virginia City is located in Okanogan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City

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

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

  • Waterville, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies 32 miles [51.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Downing to Waterville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 164 miles [263.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,197 miles [3,535.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 86 days and walking would take 125 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,703 miles [10,787.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,467 miles [12,017 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,567 miles [8,959.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

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 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 Downing 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Downing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Downing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Downing 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 Downing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.0421, Longitude: -119.6931       In this case, the coordinates for Downing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.716 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.954 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.993 degrees.