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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Leeds, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Leeds 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 Leeds:
    • 43.310545, -89.324561
    • 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 Leeds
  • 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 Columbia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
    • Since Leeds is near Dane County and also Sauk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dane County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sauk 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 Leeds

Communities Also Named Leeds ...

We found seventeen communities that are also named Leeds.

Within Wisconsin, the name Leeds is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Leeds is located in Jefferson County and lies 690 miles [1,110.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Leeds.
    • Illinois
      • La Salle County
      • This Leeds is located in La Salle County and lies 159 miles [255.9 km]<1> to the south of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Salle County community of Leeds.
    • Iowa
      • Woodbury County
      • This Leeds is located in Woodbury County and lies 359 miles [577.8 km]<1> to the west of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodbury County community of Leeds.
    • Kansas
      • Chautauqua County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Leeds [Chautauqua County].
    • Maine
      • Androscoggin County
      • This Leeds is located in Androscoggin County and lies 957 miles [1,540.1 km]<1> to the east of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Androscoggin County community of Leeds.
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Leeds is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 714 miles [1,149.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Leeds.
      • Cecil County
      • This Leeds is located in Cecil County and lies 738 miles [1,187.7 km] to the east southeast of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cecil County community of Leeds.
    • Massachusetts
      • Hampshire County
      • This Leeds is located in Hampshire County and lies 843 miles [1,356.7 km]<1> to the east of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampshire County community of Leeds.
    • Missouri
      • Jackson County
      • This Leeds is located in Jackson County and lies 398 miles [640.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Leeds.
    • New York
      • Greene County
      • This Leeds is located in Greene County and lies 783 miles [1,260.1 km]<1> to the east of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Leeds.
    • North Dakota
      • Benson County
      • This Leeds is located in Benson County and lies 595 miles [957.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benson County community of Leeds.
    • Ohio
      • Noble County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Noble County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Noble County community of Leeds.
    • Ontario
      • This Leeds lies 658 miles [1,058.9 km]<1> to the east of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
    • Oregon
      • Jackson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oregon community of Leeds [Jackson County].
    • South Carolina
      • Chester County
      • This Leeds is located in Chester County and lies 734 miles [1,181.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chester County community of Leeds.
    • Tennessee
      • Warren County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Leeds [Warren County].
    • Utah
      • Washington County
      • This Leeds is located in Washington County and lies 1,328 miles [2,137.2 km]<1> to the west of the Leeds that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Leeds.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Leeds ...

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.

  • Catfish ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Catfish is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catfish
  • Dane
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Dane is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dane
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,134 people
  • Darwin ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Darwin is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
  • DeForest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • DeForest is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeForest
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,915 people
  • Harmony Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
  • Lowville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lowville is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowville
  • Pebble Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pebble Valley is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Valley
  • Raintree
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Raintree is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
  • Sunburst
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Sunburst is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburst
  • Token Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Token Creek is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Token Creek

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

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

  • Portage, which is the Seat of Columbia County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Leeds to Portage, 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 16 miles [25.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 707 miles [1,137.8 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 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,173 miles [9,934.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,918 miles [11,133.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,810 miles [7,740.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Leeds) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Leeds 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.
<3>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 Leeds, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Leeds 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 Leeds. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3105, Longitude: -89.3246       In this case, the coordinates for Leeds have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.563 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.819 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.008 degrees.