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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elmo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elmo 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 Elmo:
    • 42.642775, -90.435962
    • 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 Elmo
  • 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 Grant County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grant County
    • Since Elmo is near Lafayette County and also Jo Daviess County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lafayette County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jo Daviess 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 Elmo

Communities Also Named Elmo ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Elmo.

Within Wisconsin, the name Elmo is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Crittenden 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 Arkansas community of Elmo [Crittenden County].
      • Independence County
      • This Elmo is located in Independence County and lies 487 miles [783.8 km]<2> to the south of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Independence County community of Elmo.
    • California
      • Kern County
      • This Elmo is located in Kern County and lies 1,610 miles [2,591 km]<2> to the west of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Elmo.
    • Georgia
      • Coffee 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 Georgia community of Elmo [Coffee County].
    • Kansas
      • Dickinson County
      • This Elmo is located in Dickinson County and lies 448 miles [721 km]<2> to the southwest of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dickinson County community of Elmo.
    • Kentucky
      • Christian 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 Kentucky community of Elmo [Christian County].
    • Maine
      • Aroostook 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 Maine community of Elmo [Aroostook County].
    • Mississippi
      • Jefferson County
      • This Elmo is located in Jefferson County and lies 761 miles [1,224.7 km]<2> to the south of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Elmo.
    • Missouri
      • Nodaway County
      • This Elmo is located in Nodaway County and lies 282 miles [453.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nodaway County community of Elmo.
    • Montana
      • Lake County
      • This Elmo is located in Lake County and lies 1,211 miles [1,948.9 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Elmo.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clarion County
      • This Elmo is located in Clarion County and lies 567 miles [912.5 km]<2> to the east of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Elmo.
    • Texas
      • Kaufman County
      • This Elmo is located in Kaufman County and lies 752 miles [1,210.2 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kaufman County community of Elmo.
    • Utah
      • Emery County
      • This Elmo is located in Emery County and lies 1,082 miles [1,741.3 km]<2> to the west of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Emery County community of Elmo.
    • Virginia
      • Halifax County
      • This Elmo is located in Halifax County and lies 727 miles [1,170 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Halifax County community of Elmo.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette 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 West Virginia community of Elmo [Fayette County].
    • Wyoming
      • Carbon County
      • This Elmo is located in Carbon County and lies 823 miles [1,324.5 km]<2> to the west of the Elmo that is located in Grant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carbon County community of Elmo.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elmo ...

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.

  • Bigpatch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bigpatch is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigpatch
  • Cuba City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Cuba City is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,047 people
  • Elk Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Elk Grove is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Grove
  • Georgetown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Georgetown is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Hazel Green
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Hazel Green is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
  • Jamestown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jamestown is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
  • Jenkinsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jenkinsville is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkinsville
  • Lead Mine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lead Mine is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lead Mine
  • Louisburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Louisburg is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
  • Meekers Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Meekers Grove is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meekers Grove

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

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

  • Lancaster, which is the Seat of Grant County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Elmo to Lancaster, with an average speed<3> 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 6 hours.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 60 miles [96.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 745 miles [1,199 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,245 miles [10,050.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,991 miles [11,250.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,882 miles [7,856.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Elmo 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Elmo) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Elmo 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 Elmo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6428, Longitude: -90.4360       In this case, the coordinates for Elmo have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.321 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.589 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.765 degrees.