RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for Wisconsin





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Spring, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Spring and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Big Spring:
    • 43.669423, -89.643734
    • 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 Big Spring
  • 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 Big Spring ...

We found 21 communities that share the name Big Spring.

Within Wisconsin, the name Big Spring is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Marshall County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Big Spring [Marshall County].
    • Georgia
      • Gordon County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Big Spring [Gordon County].
      • Hancock 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 Georgia community of Big Spring [Hancock County].
      • Walker 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 Georgia community of Big Spring [Walker County].
    • Iowa
      • Wayne County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Big Spring [Wayne County].
    • Kentucky
      • Meade County
      • This Big Spring is located in Meade County and lies 444 miles [714.5 km]<3> to the south southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meade County community of Big Spring.
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Big Spring is located in Baltimore County and lies 725 miles [1,166.8 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Big Spring.
      • Washington County
      • This Big Spring is located in Washington County and lies 664 miles [1,068.6 km] to the east southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Big Spring.
    • Michigan
      • Ottawa 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 Big Spring [Ottawa County].
    • Minnesota
      • Fillmore County
      • This Big Spring is located in Fillmore County and lies 120 miles [193.1 km]<3> to the west of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fillmore County community of Big Spring.
    • Missouri
      • Montgomery County
      • This Big Spring is located in Montgomery County and lies 349 miles [561.7 km]<3> to the south southwest of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Big Spring.
    • North Carolina
      • Jackson 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 North Carolina community of Big Spring [Jackson County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Hughes 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 Oklahoma community of Big Spring [Hughes County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Centre County
      • This Big Spring is located in Centre County and lies 634 miles [1,020.3 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Centre County community of Big Spring.
      • Cumberland County
      • This Big Spring is located in Cumberland County and lies 673 miles [1,083.1 km] to the east southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Big Spring.
      • Franklin 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 Big Spring [Franklin County].
    • Tennessee
      • Carter County
      • This Big Spring is located in Carter County and lies 640 miles [1,030 km]<3> to the southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carter County community of Big Spring.
      • Meigs County
      • This Big Spring is located in Meigs County and lies 624 miles [1,004.2 km] to the south southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meigs County community of Big Spring.
      • Wilson County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Big Spring [Wilson County].
    • Texas
      • Howard County
      • This Big Spring is located in Howard County and lies 1,016 miles [1,635.1 km]<3> to the southwest of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Big Spring.
    • Virginia
      • Page County
      • This Big Spring is located in Page County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Page County community of Big Spring.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Spring ...

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.

  • Dell Prairie ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dell Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dell Prairie
    • Dell Prairie is located in Adams County
  • Endeavor
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Endeavor have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Endeavor
    • Endeavor is located in Marquette County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 464 people
  • Grand Marsh
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Marsh have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Marsh
    • Grand Marsh is located in Adams County
  • Moe Settlement ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moe Settlement have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moe Settlement
    • Moe Settlement is located in Columbia County
  • Pardeeville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pardeeville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardeeville
    • Pardeeville is located in Columbia County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,053 people
  • Plainville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Plainville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
    • Plainville is located in Adams County
  • Portage
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
    • Portage is located in Columbia County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,381 people
  • Rock Springs
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
    • Rock Springs is located in Sauk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
  • Springbluff ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springbluff have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springbluff
    • Springbluff is located in Adams County

How Far From Big Spring to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Big Spring to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Friendship, which is the Seat of Adams County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<3> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Big Spring to Friendship, with an average speed<6> 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.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 42 miles [67.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 731 miles [1,176.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,166 miles [9,923.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,913 miles [11,125.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,806 miles [7,734.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Spring. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Adams County: www.co.adams.wi.us/

The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Big Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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 Big Spring 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>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- Big Spring) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.6694, Longitude: -89.6437       In this case, the coordinates for Big Spring 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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Big Spring 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 315.778 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.114 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.07 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 24 Mar 2025