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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Downsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Downsville 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 Downsville:
    • 44.774685, -91.932119
    • 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 Downsville
  • 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 Dunn County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dunn County
    • Since Downsville is near Pepin County and also Pierce County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pepin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pierce 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 Downsville

Communities Also Named Downsville ...

We found five communities that are also named Downsville.

Within Wisconsin, the name Downsville is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Union Parish
      • This Downsville is located in Union Parish and lies 839 miles [1,350.2 km]<1> to the south of the Downsville that is located in Dunn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union Parish community of Downsville.
    • Maryland
      • Washington County
      • This Downsville is located in Washington County and lies 806 miles [1,297.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Downsville that is located in Dunn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Downsville.
    • New York
      • Delaware County
      • This Downsville is located in Delaware County and lies 867 miles [1,395.3 km]<1> to the east of the Downsville that is located in Dunn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Downsville.
    • North Carolina
      • Caldwell County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Downsville [Caldwell County].
    • Texas
      • McLennan County
      • This Downsville is located in McLennan County and lies 960 miles [1,545 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Downsville that is located in Dunn County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLennan County community of Downsville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Downsville ...

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.

  • Caryville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Caryville is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caryville
  • Cedar Falls
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Falls is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Falls
  • Comfort
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Comfort is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comfort
  • Dunnville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Dunnville is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnville
  • Elk Mound
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Elk Mound is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Mound
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
  • Falls City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Falls City is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
  • Hatchville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hatchville is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatchville
  • Laneville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Laneville is located in Pepin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laneville
  • Red Cedar
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Red Cedar is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Cedar
  • Rock Falls
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Rock Falls is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Falls

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

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

  • Menomonie, which is the Seat of Dunn County, lies just to the North.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 172 miles [276.8 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Downsville to Madison, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 865 miles [1,392.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,189 miles [9,960.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,942 miles [11,172.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,845 miles [7,797.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Downsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Downsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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 Downsville 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 Downsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7747, Longitude: -91.9321       In this case, the coordinates for Downsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.357 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.063 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.972 degrees.