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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Jonesdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Jonesdale 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 Jonesdale:
    • 42.898888, -90.013458
    • 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 Jonesdale
  • 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 Iowa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iowa County
    • Since Jonesdale is near Lafayette County and also Dane 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 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 Jonesdale

Communities Also Named Jonesdale ...

We found two communities that are also named Jonesdale.

Within Wisconsin, the name Jonesdale is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Baxter 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 Arkansas community of Jonesdale [Baxter County].
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Jonesdale is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,140 miles [1,834.7 km]<2> to the west of the Jonesdale that is located in Iowa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Jonesdale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Jonesdale ...

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.

  • Blue Mounds
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Blue Mounds is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mounds
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 990 people
  • Dodgeville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Dodgeville is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodgeville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,677 people
  • Forward
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Forward is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forward
  • Hollandale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hollandale is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollandale
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
  • Mineral Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Mineral Point is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,454 people
  • Moscow
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Moscow is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Iowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Slateford
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Slateford is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slateford
  • Yellowstone
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Yellowstone is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellowstone

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

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

  • Dodgeville, which is the Seat of Iowa County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 33 miles [53.1 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Jonesdale to Madison, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 730 miles [1,174.8 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,218 miles [10,006.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,963 miles [11,205.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,854 miles [7,811.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Jonesdale, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Jonesdale) 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 Jonesdale 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 Jonesdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8989, Longitude: -90.0135       In this case, the coordinates for Jonesdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.034 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.297 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.479 degrees.