RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> La Crosse County >> Shelby >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shelby, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shelby 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 Shelby:
    • 43.769135, -91.160967
    • 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 Shelby
  • 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 La Crosse County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for La Crosse County
    • Since Shelby is near Vernon County and also Houston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vernon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Houston 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 Shelby

Communities Also Named Shelby ...

We found 23 communities that are also named Shelby.

Within Wisconsin, the name Shelby is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of 23 communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Shelby County
      • This Shelby is located in Shelby County and lies 776 miles [1,248.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Shelby.
    • Indiana
      • Fountain 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 Indiana community of Shelby [Fountain County].
      • Lake County
      • This Shelby is located in Lake County and lies 263 miles [423.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Shelby.
    • Iowa
      • Shelby County
      • This Shelby is located in Shelby County and lies 267 miles [429.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Shelby.
    • Kentucky
      • Jefferson 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 Kentucky community of Shelby [Jefferson County].
      • Pike 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 Kentucky community of Shelby [Pike County].
    • Michigan
      • Allegan 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 Shelby [Allegan County].
      • Macomb 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 Michigan community of Shelby [Macomb County].
      • Oceana County
      • This Shelby is located in Oceana County and lies 239 miles [384.6 km]<1> to the east of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oceana County community of Shelby.
    • Mississippi
      • Bolivar County
      • This Shelby is located in Bolivar County and lies 678 miles [1,091.1 km]<1> to the south of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bolivar County community of Shelby.
      • Claiborne 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 Mississippi community of Shelby [Claiborne County].
    • Missouri
      • Linn County
      • This Shelby is located in Linn County and lies 279 miles [449 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Linn County community of Shelby.
      • Oregon County
      • This Shelby is located in Oregon County and lies 502 miles [807.9 km] to the south of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oregon County community of Shelby.
    • Montana
      • Toole County
      • This Shelby is located in Toole County and lies 1,039 miles [1,672.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Toole County community of Shelby.
    • Nebraska
      • Polk County
      • This Shelby is located in Polk County and lies 365 miles [587.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Shelby.
    • New York
      • Orleans 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 New York community of Shelby [Orleans County].
    • North Carolina
      • Cleveland County
      • This Shelby is located in Cleveland County and lies 776 miles [1,248.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cleveland County community of Shelby.
    • Ohio
      • Richland County
      • This Shelby is located in Richland County and lies 477 miles [767.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Shelby.
    • Oregon
      • Gilliam 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 Shelby [Gilliam County].
    • South Dakota
      • Buffalo County
      • This Shelby is located in Buffalo County and lies 399 miles [642.1 km]<1> to the west of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buffalo County community of Shelby.
    • Texas
      • Austin County
      • This Shelby is located in Austin County and lies 995 miles [1,601.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Austin County community of Shelby.
    • Virginia
      • Madison County
      • This Shelby is located in Madison County and lies 766 miles [1,232.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Shelby that is located in La Crosse County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Shelby.
      • Montgomery 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 Virginia community of Shelby [Montgomery County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shelby ...

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.

  • Chaseburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Chaseburg is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
  • Cold Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cold Springs is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Coon Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Coon Valley is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
  • French Island
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • French Island is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Island
  • Grand Crossing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Grand Crossing is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Crossing
  • Holiday Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Holiday Heights is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Heights
  • La Crosse
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • La Crosse is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Crosse
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 51,163 people
  • Maple Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Grove is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
  • River Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • River Junction is located in Houston County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
  • Village Terrace
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Village Terrace is located in Houston County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Terrace

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

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

  • La Crosse, which is the Seat of La Crosse County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Shelby to Madison, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 804 miles [1,293.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,214 miles [10,000.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,963 miles [11,205.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,861 miles [7,823 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Shelby) 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 Shelby 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 Shelby, 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 Shelby 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 Shelby. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7691, Longitude: -91.1610       In this case, the coordinates for Shelby have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.822 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.316 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.837 degrees.