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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Marathon City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Marathon City 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 Marathon City:
    • 44.932468, -89.841793
    • 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 Marathon City
  • 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 Marathon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marathon County
    • Since Marathon City is near Lincoln County and also Taylor County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor 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 Marathon City

Curious and Interesting Names Near Marathon City ...

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.

  • Edgar
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Edgar is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,434 people
  • Evergreen
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Evergreen is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Granite Heights
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Granite Heights is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Heights
  • Kelly
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Kelly is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
  • Little Chicago
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Little Chicago is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Chicago
  • Moon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Moon is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon
  • Rangeline
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rangeline is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangeline
  • Rib Falls
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Rib Falls is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rib Falls
  • Rib Mountain
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Rib Mountain is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rib Mountain
  • Schnappsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Schnappsville is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schnappsville
  • Swan
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Swan is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan

How Far From Marathon City 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 village such as Marathon City to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Marathon City and extending to:

  • Wausau, which is the Seat of Marathon County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Marathon City to Wausau, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 130 miles [209.2 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 777 miles [1,250.5 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,111 miles [9,834.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,861 miles [11,041.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,759 miles [7,658.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Marathon City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Marathon City 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 Marathon City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.9325, Longitude: -89.8418       In this case, the coordinates for Marathon City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.898 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.427 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.802 degrees.