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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McFarland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McFarland 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 McFarland:
    • 43.018887, -89.294006
    • 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 McFarland
  • 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 Dane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dane County
    • Since McFarland is near Rock County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rock County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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 McFarland

Communities Also Named McFarland ...

We found eight communities that are also named McFarland.

Within Wisconsin, the name McFarland is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Tuscaloosa 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 Alabama community of McFarland [Tuscaloosa County].
    • California
      • Kern County
      • This McFarland is located in Kern County and lies 1,666 miles [2,681.2 km]<2> to the west of the McFarland that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of McFarland.
    • Kansas
      • Wabaunsee County
      • This McFarland is located in Wabaunsee County and lies 453 miles [729 km]<2> to the southwest of the McFarland that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wabaunsee County community of McFarland.
    • Michigan
      • Marquette County
      • This McFarland is located in Marquette County and lies 240 miles [386.2 km]<2> to the north northeast of the McFarland that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marquette County community of McFarland.
    • Missouri
      • Taney County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of McFarland [Taney County].
    • North Carolina
      • Hoke County
      • This McFarland is located in Hoke County and lies 765 miles [1,231.1 km]<2> to the southeast of the McFarland that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hoke County community of McFarland.
    • Tennessee
      • McMinn 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 Tennessee community of McFarland [McMinn County].
      • Polk County
      • This McFarland is located in Polk County and lies 601 miles [967.2 km]<2> to the south southeast of the McFarland that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of McFarland.

Curious and Interesting Names Near McFarland ...

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.

  • Cottage Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
  • Darwin ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Darwin is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
  • Door Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Door Creek is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
  • Elmside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elmside is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmside
  • Hope
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hope is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
  • Lakeview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeview is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Maple Bluff
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
  • Oak Hall
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Hall is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hall
  • Oregon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Oregon is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,731 people
  • Pilgrim Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Pilgrim Village is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Village
  • Pleasant Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Red Bridge Crossing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Red Bridge Crossing is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bridge Crossing
  • Seminary Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Seminary Springs is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Springs

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

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

  • Madison, which is the Seat of Dane County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies just to the northwest (NW).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 698 miles [1,123.3 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from McFarland to White House, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 40 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,186 miles [9,955.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,931 miles [11,154.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,821 miles [7,758.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 McFarland 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McFarland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 McFarland, 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 McFarland 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 McFarland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0189, Longitude: -89.2940       In this case, the coordinates for McFarland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.544 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.756 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.075 degrees.