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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rockton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rockton 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 Rockton:
    • 43.641083, -90.601797
    • 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 Rockton
  • 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 Vernon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vernon County
    • Since Rockton is near Richland County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Rockton

Communities Also Named Rockton ...

We found ten communities that are also named Rockton.

Within Wisconsin, the name Rockton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Winnebago County
      • This Rockton is located in Winnebago County and lies 113 miles [181.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the Rockton that is located in Vernon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Winnebago County community of Rockton.
    • Iowa
      • Marshall County
      • This Rockton is located in Marshall County and lies 157 miles [252.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Rockton that is located in Vernon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Rockton.
    • Kansas
      • Wabaunsee 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 Rockton [Wabaunsee County].
    • Michigan
      • Alger 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 Michigan community of Rockton [Alger County].
    • New York
      • Montgomery County
      • This Rockton is located in Montgomery County and lies 825 miles [1,327.7 km]<1> to the east of the Rockton that is located in Vernon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Rockton.
    • North Carolina
      • Wake 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 North Carolina community of Rockton [Wake County].
    • Ontario
      • This Rockton lies 525 miles [844.9 km]<1> to the east of the Rockton that is located in Vernon County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clearfield County
      • This Rockton is located in Clearfield County and lies 634 miles [1,020.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Rockton that is located in Vernon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clearfield County community of Rockton.
    • South Carolina
      • Fairfield County
      • This Rockton is located in Fairfield County and lies 818 miles [1,316.4 km]<1> to the southeast of the Rockton that is located in Vernon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfield County community of Rockton.
    • West Virginia
      • Braxton County
      • This Rockton is located in Braxton County and lies 613 miles [986.5 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Rockton that is located in Vernon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Braxton County community of Rockton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rockton ...

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.

  • Avalanche
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Avalanche is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avalanche
  • Bloom City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bloom City is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom City
  • Dilly
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Dilly is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dilly
  • Greenwood
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenwood is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Henrietta ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Henrietta is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
  • Liberty
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Liberty is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
  • Oil City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Oil City is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
  • Tunnelville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tunnelville is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelville
  • Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Valley is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley

How Far From Rockton to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Rockton to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Viroqua, which is the Seat of Vernon County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rockton to Viroqua, with an average speed<3> 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 four to five hours.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 71 miles [114.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 775 miles [1,247.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 44 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,201 miles [9,979.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,949 miles [11,183.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,845 miles [7,797.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rockton) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Rockton 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>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 Rockton 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 Rockton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.6411, Longitude: -90.6018       In this case, the coordinates for Rockton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.436 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.859 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.578 degrees.