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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Kirby, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Kirby 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 Kirby:
    • 44.090519, -90.539299
    • 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 Kirby
  • 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 Monroe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
    • Since Kirby is near Jackson County and also Crawford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Crawford 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 Kirby

Communities Also Named Kirby ...

We found nineteen communities that are also named Kirby.

Within Wisconsin, the name Kirby is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of nineteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nineteen communities, eighteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Yavapai County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Yavapai County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yavapai County community of Kirby.
    • Arkansas
      • Pike County
      • This Kirby is located in Pike County and lies 699 miles [1,124.9 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Kirby.
    • Georgia
      • Emanuel County
      • This Kirby is located in Emanuel County and lies 913 miles [1,469.3 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Emanuel County community of Kirby.
    • Indiana
      • Monroe County
      • This Kirby is located in Monroe County and lies 397 miles [638.9 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Kirby.
    • Maine
      • Franklin County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maine community of Kirby [Franklin County].
    • Michigan
      • Van Buren County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Kirby [Van Buren County].
      • Washtenaw 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 Michigan community of Kirby [Washtenaw County].
    • Mississippi
      • Franklin County
      • This Kirby is located in Franklin County and lies 868 miles [1,396.9 km]<2> to the south of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Kirby.
      • Webster County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Kirby [Webster County].
    • Missouri
      • Shelby County
      • This Kirby is located in Shelby County and lies 304 miles [489.2 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Kirby.
    • Montana
      • Big Horn County
      • This Kirby is located in Big Horn County and lies 809 miles [1,302 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Big Horn County community of Kirby.
    • Ohio
      • Wyandot County
      • This Kirby is located in Wyandot County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wyandot County community of Kirby.
    • Ontario
      • This Kirby lies 591 miles [951.1 km]<2> to the east of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Greene County
      • This Kirby is located in Greene County and lies 611 miles [983.3 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Kirby.
    • Tennessee
      • Macon County
      • This Kirby is located in Macon County and lies 579 miles [931.8 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Macon County community of Kirby.
    • Texas
      • Bexar County
      • This Kirby is located in Bexar County and lies 1,098 miles [1,767.1 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of Kirby.
    • Washington
      • Garfield County
      • This Kirby is located in Garfield County and lies 1,308 miles [2,105 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Garfield County community of Kirby.
    • West Virginia
      • Hampshire County
      • This Kirby is located in Hampshire County and lies 696 miles [1,120.1 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampshire County community of Kirby.
    • Wyoming
      • Hot Springs County
      • This Kirby is located in Hot Springs County and lies 875 miles [1,408.2 km]<2> to the west of the Kirby that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hot Springs County community of Kirby.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Kirby ...

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.

  • Cataract
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Cataract is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cataract
  • Farmers Valley
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Farmers Valley is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Valley
  • Lees Crossing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Lees Crossing is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Crossing
  • Lynxville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lynxville is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynxville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
  • Meadow Valley
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Meadow Valley is located in Juneau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Valley
  • Shamrock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Shamrock is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
  • Speck Oaks
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Speck Oaks is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speck Oaks
  • Tunnel City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Tunnel City is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnel City
  • Valley Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Valley Junction is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Junction

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

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

  • Sparta, which is the Seat of Monroe County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Kirby to Sparta, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 90 miles [144.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 783 miles [1,260.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,176 miles [9,939.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,926 miles [11,146.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,823 miles [7,761.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Kirby, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Kirby) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Kirby 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.
<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 Kirby 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 Kirby. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0905, Longitude: -90.5393       In this case, the coordinates for Kirby have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.391 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.87 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.419 degrees.