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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Horicon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Horicon 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 Horicon:
    • 43.444995, -88.637047
    • 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 Horicon
  • 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 Dodge County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dodge County
    • Since Horicon is near Washington County and also Fond du Lac County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fond du Lac 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 Horicon

Communities Also Named Horicon ...

We found three communities that are also named Horicon.

Within Wisconsin, the name Horicon is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Grand Traverse 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 Michigan community of Horicon [Grand Traverse County].
    • Minnesota
      • Martin 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 Minnesota community of Horicon [Martin County].
    • New York
      • Warren 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 New York community of Horicon [Warren County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Horicon ...

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.

  • Beaver Dam
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Beaver Dam is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Dam
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,303 people
  • Farmersville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Farmersville is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmersville
  • Herman Center
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Herman Center is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herman Center
  • Iron Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Iron Ridge is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Ridge
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
  • Juneau
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Juneau is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juneau
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,532 people
  • LeRoy
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • LeRoy is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LeRoy
  • Mayville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mayville is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,829 people
  • Minnesota Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Minnesota Junction is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnesota Junction
  • Oak Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Rolling Prairie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Rolling Prairie is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Prairie

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Horicon and extending to:

  • Juneau, which is the Seat of Dodge County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 46 miles [74 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Horicon to Madison, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 678 miles [1,091.1 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 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,142 miles [9,884.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,887 miles [11,083.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,777 miles [7,687.8 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 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 Horicon 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Horicon) 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 Horicon 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 Horicon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4450, Longitude: -88.6370       In this case, the coordinates for Horicon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.095 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.304 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.614 degrees.