RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Sauk County >> Black Hawk >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Black Hawk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Black Hawk 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 Black Hawk:
    • 43.269156, -89.927346
    • 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 Black Hawk
  • 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 Sauk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sauk County
    • Since Black Hawk is near Iowa County and also Dane County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iowa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dane 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 Black Hawk

Communities Also Named Black Hawk ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Black Hawk.

Within Wisconsin, the name Black Hawk is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eleven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Sierra County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Sierra County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sierra County community of Black Hawk.
    • Colorado
      • Gilpin County
      • This Black Hawk is located in Gilpin County and lies 837 miles [1,347 km]<2> to the west of the Black Hawk that is located in Sauk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gilpin County community of Black Hawk.
    • Iowa
      • Scott County
      • This Black Hawk is located in Scott County and lies 126 miles [202.8 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Black Hawk that is located in Sauk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Black Hawk.
    • Kansas
      • Osborne 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 Black Hawk [Osborne County].
    • Kentucky
      • Caldwell County
      • This Black Hawk is located in Caldwell County and lies 448 miles [721 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Black Hawk that is located in Sauk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caldwell County community of Black Hawk.
    • Louisiana
      • Concordia Parish
      • This Black Hawk is located in Concordia Parish and lies 841 miles [1,353.5 km]<2> to the south of the Black Hawk that is located in Sauk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Concordia Parish community of Black Hawk.
    • Mississippi
      • Carroll County
      • This Black Hawk is located in Carroll County and lies 686 miles [1,104 km]<2> to the south of the Black Hawk that is located in Sauk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Black Hawk.
    • Missouri
      • Clark County
      • Although located in Clark County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Black Hawk.
    • Montana
      • Meagher 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 Montana community of Black Hawk [Meagher County].
    • New Mexico
      • Grant 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 New Mexico community of Black Hawk [Grant County].
    • Ontario
      • This Black Hawk lies 428 miles [688.8 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Black Hawk that is located in Sauk County.
    • South Dakota
      • Meade County
      • This Black Hawk is located in Meade County and lies 669 miles [1,076.7 km]<2> to the west of the Black Hawk that is located in Sauk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meade County community of Black Hawk.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Black Hawk ...

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.

  • Arena
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Arena is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
  • Bear Valley
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bear Valley is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
  • Black Earth
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Black Earth is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Earth
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,422 people
  • Coon Rock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Coon Rock is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Rock
  • Helena
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Helena is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
  • Hill Point
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hill Point is located in Sauk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Point
  • Lone Rock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Lone Rock is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Rock
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 835 people
  • Moon Valley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Moon Valley is located in Sauk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Valley
  • Plain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Plain is located in Sauk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plain
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 765 people
  • Rock Springs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Rock Springs is located in Sauk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
  • Spring Green
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Spring Green is located in Sauk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Green
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,630 people
  • Wyoming
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Wyoming is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming

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

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

  • Baraboo, which is the Seat of Sauk County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Black Hawk to Baraboo, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 29 miles [46.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 734 miles [1,181.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,196 miles [9,971.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,943 miles [11,173.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,835 miles [7,781.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Black Hawk, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Black Hawk) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Black Hawk 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 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 Black Hawk 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 Black Hawk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2692, Longitude: -89.9273       In this case, the coordinates for Black Hawk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.975 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.281 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.331 degrees.