RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Dane County >> Darwin >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Darwin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Darwin 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 Darwin:
    • 43.128888, -89.351901
    • 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 Darwin
  • 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 Dane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dane County
    • Since Darwin is near Columbia County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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 Darwin

Communities Also Named Darwin ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Darwin.

Within Wisconsin, the name Darwin 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
      • Inyo County
      • This Darwin is located in Inyo County and lies 1,564 miles [2,517 km]<1> to the west of the Darwin that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Inyo County community of Darwin.
    • Illinois
      • Clark County
      • This Darwin is located in Clark County and lies 280 miles [450.6 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Darwin that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Darwin.
    • Indiana
      • Carroll 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 Indiana community of Darwin [Carroll County].
      • Putnam 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 Indiana community of Darwin [Putnam County].
    • Manitoba
      • This Darwin lies 560 miles [901.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Darwin that is located in Dane County.
    • Minnesota
      • Meeker County
      • This Darwin is located in Meeker County and lies 284 miles [457.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Darwin that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meeker County community of Darwin.
    • Nevada
      • Lyon 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 Nevada community of Darwin [Lyon County].
    • Ohio
      • Meigs County
      • This Darwin is located in Meigs County and lies 469 miles [754.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the Darwin that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meigs County community of Darwin.
    • Oklahoma
      • Atoka County
      • This Darwin is located in Atoka County and lies 703 miles [1,131.4 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Darwin that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Atoka County community of Darwin.
    • Tennessee
      • Shelby County
      • This Darwin is located in Shelby County and lies 561 miles [902.8 km]<1> to the south of the Darwin that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Darwin.
    • Texas
      • Webb County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Webb County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webb County community of Darwin.
    • Virginia
      • Dickenson County
      • This Darwin is located in Dickenson County and lies 551 miles [886.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Darwin that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dickenson County community of Darwin.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Darwin ...

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.

  • Catfish ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Catfish is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catfish
  • Elmside
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Elmside is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmside
  • Hope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hope is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
  • Maple Bluff
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
  • Pheasant Branch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
  • Pilgrim Village
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pilgrim Village is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Village
  • Raintree
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Raintree is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
  • Seminary Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Seminary Springs is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Springs
  • Sunburst
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunburst is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburst
  • Token Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Token Creek is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Token Creek

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Darwin once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Darwin and extending to:

  • Madison, which is the Seat of Dane County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies just to the south southwest (SSW).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 704 miles [1,133 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Darwin to White House, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 40 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,183 miles [9,950.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,928 miles [11,149.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,819 miles [7,755.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Darwin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Darwin 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>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 Darwin, 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 Darwin 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 Darwin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1289, Longitude: -89.3519       In this case, the coordinates for Darwin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.583 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.816 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.074 degrees.